The Reality of Illusions
by furaiz
Summary: Meet Elanor, an unusual girl who goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Meet Harry Potter, a mysterious young boy, who shows up in her life one night, and everything changes.Who is Harry Potter? And why is he interested in Elanor? Plans long in the making will be torn asunder. The Darkness is returning. Powerful!Harry, Grey!Harry, BWL!Neville.
1. Lonely Star

**Full Summary**

Meet Elanor, an unusual girl who goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Meet Harry Potter, a mysterious young boy, who shows up in her life one night, and everything is Harry Potter? And why is he interested in Elanor? And just what is Harry searching for? Plans long in the making will be torn asunder. The Darkness is returning. In a world where Neville Longbottom is the Boy Who Lived, everything is clouded, and nothing is what it seems. Nothing is black or white, in a world with Elanor. Something is coming, and it holds the key to everything...

Powerful!Harry, Grey!Harry, BWL!Neville.

* * *

**General Stuff**

Alternate Universe, HarryxOC, No 'Horcrux' in Neville but Horcruxes included, Canon til end of 5th year, Actual wartime. Mild language in later years as people mature. Other relationships are included.

* * *

**Lonely Star**

* * *

Elanor awoke to the faint sound of birds chirping through the small slightly ajar window of her room. Easing herself upright, and rubbing the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes, she sighed softly in boredom. It was always the same, she found. Nothing ever really changed here in the orphanage. At least, not for her.

No one ever came to see her after all. Not once, through all these years. And if that wasn't proof enough that she was unwanted or even just disliked, it was how people always seemed to look at her, with either apprehension or just outright distaste. She didn't look like she wasn't normal, being what most people would actually call moderately good looking, with straight and sleek black hair, dark brown eyes, and a slim physique with slight curves. She seemed to be just like a normal young developing girl. If it wasn't for the fact she was a witch with _magic_, she would be a perfectly normal girl.

She had come to the conclusion that there was something about her and her magic that made people dislike her. Even amongst her fellow students at Hogwarts, she seemed to be a social pariah. She remembered, when the old white-bearded man Headmaster Dumbledore had come to visit, feeling almost elated at the fact there were people with magic, people that she could possibly relate to, and even be friendly with. It wasn't until later, when she finally got to Hogwarts that this fragile hope and been brought crashing down. Nobody liked her. And wasn't that just unfair? They didn't even really know her!

The battered old Sorting Hat had even seemed… _sad _when it was sorting her. If even a magical object of a thousand years ago didn't seem to like her, the actual people seemed to downright hate her, or just outright ignored her. Oddly enough, even the professors looked at her as though they were afraid she might attack them or something! And when she had been sorted into _Slytherin_ of all places, it was worse than she could have imagined. She was outright hated and even mocked by her own housemates for not daring to be a _pureblood_ of all things. Even if they might grudgingly accept half-bloods into the _'noble House of Slytherin'_, _Mudbloods_ were unacceptable, and they wasted no time in letting her know she was worth less than dirt to them.

At times, she even wished she was back at the orphanage. At least there, she could lock herself away from the disgusted stares and distrustful glances she got. And here she was, locking herself away for another summer, actually dreading the day she had to go back to Hogwarts, yet again. She had spent three long and miserable years there now, with only her own magic as comfort. She had long since decided that no matter how disliked she was, she would learn magic, and learn it well. And she was _good_ at it. Of course, even that wasn't enough to overturn the fickle minds of others, but some had grudgingly begun to accept she was a halfway decent witch, all things considered. At least they didn't mock her anymore, aside from a few more outspoken people, like Draco Malfoy, the pretentious stuck-up peacock, as she liked to think of him as.

And so here she was, in her little dreary room in Wool's Orphanage, peeling paint on the walls, dusty wooden floorboards, which were practically like ice in the winter, sitting on her thin and uncomfortable mattress wrapped up in a drab grey sheet as a makeshift duvet. Finally she looked out of her small grimy window at the warming early morning sunlight before murmuring to herself.

"Another day Elanor."

* * *

**/**

After breakfast, she had informed the matron she was going out for the day, as usual. The expected scoff and disgusted reply, _"Do I look like I care what you do during the day?"_, and the sarcastic response Elanor gave, _"Of course not, matron."_ was equally as expected by the matron. She and Elanor had never had a particularly good relationship, even if she had been brought up in the orphanage since she was but a babe. Another person that disliked her with no good reason, she had thought bitterly at times.

Having gone to a local park, one that wasn't frequented very often, she sat back against a tree, eating an apple she had snuck out with her. She liked to spend her days watching the clouds go by, looking back on her life, almost like a ritual. On other days, she simply holed herself away in her room, more often than not staying in bed. Nothing was ever simple in her life it seemed. And if only it could be, she often bemoaned to herself.

Her first year at Hogwarts was… bad to say the least. No one liked her, wanted to talk to her, openly mocked her in her own common room, and even hexed her if they could get away with it. The amount of times she had ended up in the infirmary under the disapproving, if kindly Madam Pomfrey was bordering on the absurd. She was in there nearly every other week, fixing all sorts of bumps and scrapes, and the occasional bigger problem, especially if one of the upper years had decided to use her as target practice. At least Madam Pomfrey didn't dislike her. In fact, she had seemed exasperatedly expectant to see her every week. She had even jokingly reserved her own bed in the infirmary, especially after one incident involving a troll. A troll that had chanced across her while she was wandering the hallways during a Halloween feast. She was at least one person she could trust to listen to her and take good care of her.

Second year was… better in a way. She still received the same treatment, but she was more capable of avoiding trouble, now she knew what to expect from everyone around her. She had hoped she might be able to befriend one or two first years, but the train ride there, most people had already spread the word about her, so to speak, so there was no hope on that front. Everyone seemed to feel she was dark or something, which most Slytherins would be fine with, but not even her 'dark aura' was enough for their prejudices against muggles and mudbloods.

Even the society didn't seem to treat women as completely equal either. Besides, how could anyone feel that she was dark? She hadn't hurt anyone in her life! Once people had started being petrified, everyone had seemed to look at her, as though she were the one harming everyone. And not once did anyone suspect otherwise. There were those murderous cries she kept hearing through the walls occasionally, but how could they suspect her? It was like a knife to the heart every time someone called her out and claimed her to be the Heir of Slytherin of all things! In fact, most Slytherins saw this as an insult to them as well, and took out their frustration on her. Which again lead to a round of more infirmary visits.

Sadly, Madam Pomfrey had even been suspicious of her this time, and that hurt, even if she still patched her up. At least by the end of the year, all the petrifactions had stopped, though some people felt that by hexing her, they had caused her to stop setting the monster loose on people. At least others simply thought it may not have been her. Not that they would have stopped people hexing her. It wasn't their problem.

Third year, she was mostly left alone. This was mainly because some deranged murderer had escaped Azkaban, the wizard prison, and was assumed to be out to kill the Boy-Who-Lived, Neville Longbottom. On the Hogwarts Express though, she had met her first Dementor, and it was the most horrifying experience of her life. The students had already made her life miserable enough, but being made to relive all the taunts, and horrible experiences she had been put through, had been hell. She could still feel the Dementors auras from where they were stationed around the school, becoming oddly jumpy and nervous all year. The chills in her bones had been there for months, before Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin House and Potions Master had taken pity on her for a change, and prescribed her a regime of calming potions and chocolate to stave off the effects. He had seemed oddly sympathetic at the time, but simply went on treating her as normal, by ignoring her to the best of his ability.

Eventually the Dementors had finally been removed, with the story going round that Sirius Black had escaped from them once again, having gotten increasingly closer to murdering Longbottom with each attempt he had made. Apparently he had escaped from a locked cell in the highest tower of Hogwarts under strange circumstances too. Somehow, she felt that Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic had become one of her most hated people, just for stationing the Dementors around Hogwarts in the first place. Of course, once people had started recovering from the general gloomy atmosphere the Dementors had created, everything was back to normal, with Elanor being the target of their frustrations once more.

This time she was starting to really hate magic in general, despite all the brilliant things that could be done with it, she had been on the receiving end of the darker side of things. It really was getting to her, but Dumbledore had informed her she was legally required to attend, when she had finally snapped at him and demanded to leave. She was really beginning to resent being a witch at all. Worse still, she couldn't transfer to another school, because she couldn't afford tuition fees elsewhere, and her guardian had to sign off on it. In this case, it was that damned twinkly-eyed Headmaster Dumbledore who was her legal guardian in the magical world. And that was because she was an orphan with no living magical family or otherwise. And that was just disheartening. Apparently, no one even knew who her parents were, not even the matron at the orphanage. And no one would have her in their family. She'd already learnt that from all those years being overlooked by prospective families.

Unknowingly to Elanor, the day had slowly faded away while she was lost in her thoughts, and she had slowly drifted to sleep thoughts blending into her dreams, head resting against the tree, and an apple core dropped haphazardly next her.

* * *

**/**

"_Master? Must we be out this late, in the cold?"_

"_Now Bella, did I not say to you that we could be out here for a long while yet? I did tell you that you didn't have to come with me."_

"_And leave me all alone with that vicious harpy?" _

"_Now, don't call dear Hedwig a harpy, just because she frightens you!"_

"_She does not!" _

"Ack! Ok, Ok! Stop squeezing me!" a distinguishable male voice wheezed out loud.

"Honestly!" it grumbled at Bella's antics. _"We are-"_ the voice continued in a hiss before cutting off all of a sudden.

"_You know, is that someone asleep over there by the tree?" It's very late for that kind of thing, unless they're homeless or something."_

"_Yes she is." _Bella replied in an indistinguishable hiss.

"_Ah, thank the gods for your fine senses Bella." _the man replied in an almost amused hiss. _"What say we take a detour hmm?"_

"_Just hurry up and do whatever it is you're planning on doing Master." _a slightly mocking hiss replied.

"_Hmph, you're no fun Bella."_

"_Not when I'm cold Master."_

The young man did not reply this time, instead strolling over towards to the sleeping figure of Elanor, whose face seemed to be twitching slightly, as if in a bad dream.

Bending down, he placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft shake. "Hey there, wake up will you?" he called out gently.

Almost immediately, the girl mumbled in her sleep, turning away from his hand as she did so. "Mhmm, go away matron."

The boy let off a slightly amused chuckle before this time shouting, "WAKE UP!" causing her to bolt upright in a scream.

"Whaaa?" she gasped out, breath heaving as she looked around for a moment before narrowing eyes on the boy she could see. "What was that for!?" she demanded imperiously, ignorant of the few leaves stuck to the side of her face, making for a slightly comical sight.

Eyebrow cocked slightly, he replied simply. "It's past midnight. I figured you needed to be somewhere else, not sleeping outside all night or something."

Dark brown eyes blinked slightly, before taking in the dark. "Oh no! I was meant to be back before ten!" she panicked slightly.

"Well, I'm sure your family will be happy to see you, despite it being so late." The boy replied simply to her panicking.

At this, she stopped short with a slight sad look, causing the boy to blink for a moment. "Oh. No family then?" he asked gently.

"Ah, no, I live in an orphanage." She murmured, averting her eyes from his searching green.

"I see. Want me to escort you back? It would be bad manners if I left you to walk back alone at this time of night." He responded cheerily.

"No! That won't be necessary. I'll just find somewhere to stay for the night." She responded hastily.

At this, the boy blinked in surprise. "Surely you'll be let in if you knock?"

"She won't open the door past ten 'o'clock." The girl responded slightly hesitantly. "I'm sure I'll be just fine."

"Well that wouldn't be right of me." The boy frowned at her, green eyes sharpening slightly. "I'll give you a place to stay for the night, I don't live too far away from here."

"Ah no I couldn't really!" she mumbled at him.

"Ah ah, I have to insist, I can't leave you out in the cold all night, and I know you have no intention of finding a place. I'm pretty sure you would just stay here as soon as I left." The boy responded firmly, pulling her up to her feet gently.

"But-" she began hastily.

"But nothing." The boy cut across. "One night is no problem, I have plenty of room!"

Flushing slightly in embarrassment, she mumbled. "Thanks…"

"Harry. My name is Harry, and no need to thank me. This is no trouble for me." The boy replied kindly.

"Elanor. And thank you." She returned softly.

"Well, nice to meet you Elanor. Now, I have a spare room, so just follow along and it's yours for the night!" he spoke with a small smile.

She responded with a small hesitant smile at the stranger's… no Harry's kindness, before following him almost shyly. She felt slightly nervous at following someone she hardly knew, but he put out a trustworthy air, and she considered the fact that he was probably the only person who had ever approached her without hesitance or even with a kind word to say. Besides, she was pretty certain no one else would have been that pleasant with her, or would probably have tried something less favourable. She still placed a hand against her pocket where her wand had remained hidden however. Hopefully, he did nothing to remove that small piece of trust she had in him.

She didn't notice his slight knowing glance at that particular pocket, before she fell into step alongside him.

* * *

**/**

"And here we are!" Harry called out as he stopped by a small building, incidentally just down the road from the orphanage she resided in. "I should tell you, I only moved in yesterday, so I don't have everything set up yet, but there is a spare bed and some food in the fridge if you need anything." He continued, leading her up some grey concrete steps to the black wooden door with a brass knocker. The house seemed to be fairly old, grey and dreary looking at the same time. The windows were old and the paint peeling slightly at first glance. Instead of taking out a pair of keys, he simply touched the door, much to Elanor's surprise, especially when the door swung open by itself.

"Oh and don't worry, any magic you do here on the premises won't be detected, so have fun with that if you want!" he called out with a teasing tone, as he walked straight in, leaving her stood on the doorstep, mouth agape.

After a moment or two though, she forcefully shook her head and walked inside, door shutting softly behind her.

"Ah, I was beginning to wonder whether you had fallen asleep on the steps." Harry smiled at her, when she walked straight into the living room.

"Y-You're a wizard?" Elanor looked at him in shock.

"Obviously." He responded dryly, rolling his eyes as he did so, much to her slight annoyance.

"I'm just wondering why you didn't tell me before!" Elanor grumbled, arms crossed as she stared him down.

"Fun." He replied swiftly.

She spluttered slightly at the answer, before he spoke up again. "Would you have even come with me if I had said I was a wizard? It sounds like some horrific pickup line."

"Like, Hey, I have magic babe. Wanna see?" he continued in a mock husky voice. This drew a stifled giggle from Elanor, as she sat down in an armchair across from him.

"Fair point." She acceded.

"So!" he clapped his hands together while looking at Elanor. "You want something to eat or are you just gonna go get some sleep? Spare room is first door on the left upstairs. Pillows and stuff included."

"Yeah, I think I'll get some sleep." She yawned slightly in reply. "And you are going to answer some questions in the morning. There's a few things I want to know." She looked at him with eyebrow raised.

"Ah, sure, I have nothing to hide. Good night!" he responded with a lazy grin, before yawning slightly himself. "I think I'll be sleeping as well anyway."

"Night." She grinned slightly, before stepping out of the room and heading up some slightly creaky wooden stairs. Opening the door to the room she was directed to, she smiled at the practical cosiness, which was a far cry from the drab orphanage room she lived in. Planting her head on the pillows, she allowed sleep to wash over her, no longer worrying about Harry's intentions. He was a bit of a mystery, but a very nice person, and her heart panged slightly at realising she was already friendlier with him than people she had known for years. And that was something that really shouldn't be true.

* * *

**/**

Flicking his wand gently, Harry set up a small silencing dome surrounding the living room when the charms on the guest bed had alerted him to Elanor finally nodding off to sleep.

"_So, what do you think of her Bella?"_

"_She's a lonely one master."_

"_Yeah, it seems so. But her aura is so… familiar. She's interesting."_

"_It's too soon to be thinking of mating yet master."_

Harry spluttered incoherently for a minute before replying incredulously.

"_Are you mad!? I'm not even thinking of anything like that!"_

"_Of course master." _She responded amusedly.

"_Ah shut up. Just go up to your little room. There's a few mice in there for you."_

"_Of course master."_ she parroted her reply once more.

"And don't you start either Hedwig!" he grumbled out loud at the snowy owl perched above the fireplace, drawing out an indignant hoot and narrowing amber eyes.

"Yes well, you girls are always teasing me!" Harry crossed his arms firmly. "It's maddening!"

"But anyway, good night Hedwig." He grinned slightly, watching Hedwig shake her head slightly before closing her eyes, and Bella's rippling black coils wind out of the doorway.

"_Night Isabella."_ He hissed.

"_Good night Harry." _The faint reply could be heard, as the silencing dome was pulled down with a snap of Harry's fingers.

* * *

**AN 12.08.2014**

**I found this idea interesting. It's rarely done, and of the ones similar that I have actually seen, rarely done anywhere near completion. There's a lot of new things as far as I'm aware too. Also, it's not a complete cliché with some things, or at least it is written well, so it should be a fresh read. Boy-Who-Lived Longbottom, for example has been done before. Not everything is revealed in first chapter, but we have Elanor's life at Hogwarts, and some background for her. Harry has no background to speak of right now, but he's living alone in an outwardly grungy old house, he has Hedwig, his snowy feathered, amber eyed owl, and Isabella, a black scaled snake. She'll get a full description next chapter, along with how she and Harry ended up with each other. Also, it's very obvious that Harry doesn't go to Hogwarts, because Elanor did not know who he was. She would have at least recognised his face, if not his name. Elanor is a somewhat ironic name for the content of this fiction, but it's from LOTR, meaning Sun-Star in 'Sindarin'. I have my reasons for using it, as well as it flowing well with her **_**full name**_**.**

**And yes, this is a 4****th**** year start. Harry is still born on July 31****st**** 1980(or '81, I can't remember which it was.) And he will not be a walking god or anything, so don't worry on that score. He will still be powerful, and I showed you a slight glimpse with a silent 'Silencing Dome/Ward' and a wandless cancel. I also stated Elanor was good with magic, but isn't on Harry's level. More on that next time.**

**Do leave me your opinions on this start so far!**

**Also, I am available for Beta-Reading, if anyone wanted someone reliable. Just read my Beta Profile for that. Only reason I'm looking to Beta things is because I only get one or two days a week where I can devote a few hours to writing, but I can read stuff every day of course! PM me if you're looking for a beta, but otherwise, just enjoy this as its updated! Second chapter will be out this week as well anyway.**


	2. Snake Child

**Snake Child**

* * *

"Another day Elanor." She murmured with a slight smile, as she drew back the curtains in the guest room, bathing the room in the soft shine of sunlight. Taking another look around the room she was in, her eyes were drawn to soft cream carpet, and dark mahogany furniture. Yes, this was probably the best place she had ever slept in, barring the Slytherin dorm rooms, which had 4 poster beds, when she was able to sleep in there without issues. And it had been the most restful night she'd had in years, sleeping dreamlessly without a care in the world. She had still been struggling to sleep properly after the Dementors of the previous school year, and at that thought, she shuddered slightly, dampening her mood.

Stretching slightly, to work out the stiffness in her muscles having just awoken, she was slightly contemplative. Harry was a rather interesting person, and seemed to be around her age, though she couldn't be completely certain. In fact, that reminded of the fact that she had intended to ask him a few questions of her own, particularly as he seemed to live here all by his self, with no actual adults. He had even said he'd only moved in the other day. Deciding to worry about it later, she pondered slightly on what to do now. She was unsure whether he would be awake and was reluctant to disturb him. And she was also very curious about the rest of the house. It looked very drab from the outside, but had a quaint and rustic charm inside. Perhaps she should explore?

A piercing whistle disjointed her out of her wandering thoughts, as Harry's voice could be heard carrying up the stairs.

"I know you're up! Come down if you're after something to eat!" his lilting voice rang out.

A small rumble of her stomach put paid to her plans of exploring the house, as did his knowledge of her wakefulness. Though how he knew that was beyond her at the moment. Pushing those questioning thoughts to the back of her mind, she called back.

"I'll be down in a minute!"

"We both know that's not true!" the voice called back teasingly.

Ah. Elanor stopped dead at the sight of herself in the mirror opposite the door. "Ohhh, my hair is a mess!" she moaned in horror.

"Don't forget, you can use magic for that!" the voice called once more, surprising her again.

"Apparently he knows what I'm thinking too." She grumbled to herself moodily, before whipping out her wand and setting to work.

"No, it's just rather obvious!" his voice chimed in once more, causing her eye to twitch momentarily in annoyance.

"I see…" she ground out lowly.

* * *

**/**

"_Hey Bella, you need to be out of sight, I don't want to be scaring her out of her wits after all."_ He hissed to his black scaled, blue eyed python.

"_But I want to see her!"_ she grumbled in reply.

"_You know Parseltongue is considered a mark of dark wizards Bella. I don't want to frighten her off before we get the chance to know her."_ He replied sternly. _"So off you go Bella. Maybe later if she wants to willingly hang around a Parselmouth."_

Bella could only give a defeated nod of her head, tongue slithering out, before heading out of the door and through a wall or what had appeared to be one, obviously interwoven with some form of obscure spell work to create a hidden door, so as to avoid having Elanor walk in on the giant snake. After all, even if snakes were considered nice, which they weren't in the magical world, an eighteen foot long magical python would scare anyone, no matter how much of a softy she was.

Harry gave an exasperated shake of his head before turning his attention back to breakfast. He had to set aside a plateful of bacon for Hedwig, who he could have sworn was salivating just looking at the frying pan, regardless of how odd that image was in his head. In the meantime, he was just doing a simple breakfast of toast, jam, eggs, beans and sausage, along with withholding some of the bacon from Hedwig, without alerting her to this fact until it would be too late. He'd had enough experience at holding onto some bacon to himself at least. Though it was never pretty when Hedwig decided she hadn't had enough bacon, glutton that she was.

"You cook?" a soft voice called from the door a few moments later, causing him to look up and glance at her. "I had assumed you just had simple stuff in the fridge for making sandwiches and so on, but then again you do live here alone."

"Ah, I've been cooking since I was six, and who said I lived here alone?" he replied in mock confusion. "My lady Hedwig here always keeps me company." He smirked slightly at the owl who was now puffing out her feathers in what seemed to be pride.

Elanor rolled her eyes at his deflection, before responding while sliding herself into a chair by a slightly rickety kitchen table. "You know what I meant Harry. You don't live with anyone. Don't like your family or something?" she queried curiously.

"Nah, don't have any family to dislike." He responded glibly, causing her to blink, before he levitated a plateful of food in front of her with a wave of his hand. "Help yourself." He added, as she took hold of the plate and set it down.

"So you're like me?" she searched out his eyes for a moment, before casting her gaze back onto her breakfast, as he sat down across from her.

Pausing to swallow a mouthful of toast, Harry looked up at her, as she was nervously poking at her food. "In a way." He responded carefully. "Of course, I'm not a girl." He added lightly to inject some humour into a gloomy topic, drawing a twitch of her lips.

After a few more minutes of eating in easy silence punctuated by the occasional clatter of cutlery on plates, she called up enough courage to talk to him about the topic again. "So… how are you able to live by yourself? I'm forced to live at that… orphanage every year."

"I'm legally recognised as an adult in the wizarding world." He responded, downing a swig of sweet and refreshing pumpkin juice. "Probably because I have enough gold to last me ten lifetimes or something. Though that might actually be an exaggeration."

"Oh." She responded sagging slightly. "I didn't know that was possible. Not that it helps me anyway."

"Can't stand the place or something?" he asked carefully. "I can't imagine it being much of an issue if you're away at Hogwarts for most of the year." He added, catching a slight wince as he mentioned the school. Filing away her reaction to Hogwarts for later topics, he listened in on her reply.

"I've never liked that orphanage." She responded evasively.

"Sure, it probably sucked for the first few years you were there perhaps, but you're only there around eight weeks or something every year now. Besides, you probably get out as much as you can anyway." He added.

"Been there all my life." She murmured.

"Really?" Harry responded.

"Yeah. Matron always told me I was just left on the doorstep, barely a few days old or something." She added slightly resentfully.

"Abandoned huh?" Harry sighed. "I take it you haven't found your parents then?"

"My mum's dead." She muttered bitterly. "Dumbledore told me that my mother had been on the run during the war. Has a grave somewhere I guess."

"Doesn't he know about your father?" Harry asked carefully.

"Apparently his name was Tom Riddle or something." She replied, before finishing off the last of her food. "Headmaster Dumbledore said he was a wizard, but other than that, he doesn't know much else. Only thing he knows for sure, was that he hadn't gone to Hogwarts like my mother."

Harry's hands had stilled for a single moment in time, as she had spoken her father's name, before hastily coming back to himself to catch the rest of her words. He'd think about it later.

"He must have passed away too." Harry instead replied as delicately as he could, drawing a strangled hiss from Elanor, as she looked him dead in the eye, dark brown eyes glistening in unshed tears.

"H-How can you know that?" she responded croakily, lips trembling slightly.

Harry looked her in the eye firmly, willing her to calm down slightly. "Magic calls to like magic Elanor. That is to say, there is a slight connection between the magic of a child and a parent. It's more complex than that, but this connection is traceable."

"S-So you mean that… because Dumbledore can't find him, he must be dead?" Elanor queried shakily. "He must have known surely?" she continued getting slightly angry. "He lied to me?"

Harry winced at her rapidly darkening expression.

"He lied to me." She repeated firmly now. "He told me he didn't know anything other than his name!" she snapped with ringing force.

"Not necessarily." Harry hastily added, as the room grew slightly colder at her unconscious projecting of her mood into the room. "He may be telling the truth in a… flimsy way."

"How?" Elanor replied, looking at Harry with slightly narrowed eyes.

"He may have not bothered to search for your father, which is probable, considering he's a very busy man." Harry voiced almost sarcastically, though Elanor could not pick up on the tone. "Plus, he has no legal way to magically locate your father in this case."

"This is because it involves blood magic, which is illegal in Britain, and in many other countries around the world." He added, seeing Elanor cool down slightly, and pay careful attention. "Blood magic can only be performed in Gringotts, which is governed separately from our territory if you've learnt about that." At the nod of her head, he continued.

"Of course, only Goblin laws are applicable there, including various treaties between the Ministry and their ruling body. Simple fact is, Blood magic is allowed within Gringotts." He pointed out.

"But, Dumbledore cannot go into Gringotts and perform a piece of Blood Magic. Only Goblins are allowed, because Ministry law is applicable to all wizards and witches within Gringotts, but not to the goblins themselves."

"He is also not allowed to ask the goblins to perform this magic either, because he is not related to you or Tom Riddle." He finished.

"So… he doesn't actually know about my father?" Elanor queried calmly.

"He could still have known about your father and lied. But he may not know because of the Blood Magic rules. It's best not to jump to conclusions." Harry replied with a nod.

"He could have told me that I could go to Gringotts to find out, couldn't he?" Elanor pointed out shrewdly. "Instead of just dismissing the matter like that. That's… just… wrong." She ground out.

"Wait, as my magical guardian, couldn't he have legally been allowed to ask for it as well?" Elanor added.

"Gringotts does not recognise guardians that are not related via family. Even if he was, he is far too many generations removed to even be considered a close enough relation." Harry replied firmly. "But you are allowed to ask."

"But you said he was probably dead. How could you know that?" Elanor frowned at him again.

"If he was alive, you would have been placed with him as a child. Or he would have given up his rights to you, which requires paperwork. The Ministry would automatically send out a blood seeking mail if they were informed of your existence. If the mail was not delivered, then there was no one alive to deliver to." Harry grimaced slightly at the slight lie. Certain wards could also have blocked this mail, but he was absolutely certain judging on certain physical characteristics, that this was _the_ Tom Riddle's daughter, and that he was dead, in a manner of speaking. But she was smart, so he needed to explain this as best as he could. He only hoped she would forgive his minor twisting of the truth if she ever found out. Though it wasn't strictly a lie either.

"You would only have to go to Gringotts and claim his vaults if that's the case. It… most likely is, I'm afraid." Harry added soothingly.

For a few minutes, he looked at her carefully, studying her reaction, as she clenched her hands hard enough to draw slight blood, before she relaxed, breathing slightly deeper. Her unshed tears had refused to fall, so he couldn't help but admire her strength of character.

"So, I have to go Gringotts, to… to be certain?" she asked him a short time later, voice low and glimmering with repressed emotion.

"Mhm." He replied softly. "I can go with you if you like. I have to visit Diagon Alley today to pick up school supplies."

"School supplies?" she blinked, glad at the change of topic that presented itself. "What school do you go to?"

"School." Harry smiled mysteriously.

"Come on, surely that isn't a big secret?" Elanor pouted slightly at his evasion, putting away her depressing thoughts for later.

"Ah well, I suppose it isn't." Harry nodded after a moment. "I'm going to Hogwarts this year, but I was… tutored for the last few years."

"You're going to Hogwarts?" Elanor blinked in surprise. "Really?" she added slightly nervously.

"Ah yeah. You can tell me about the place if you like." Harry grinned slightly.

"I-I guess…" she murmured quietly, causing Harry to hum slightly worriedly.

"You okay there?"

"A-Ah yeah, fine." Elanor responded with a bland smile.

"Hogwarts mustn't be all that good from that kind of reaction hey?" Harry added lightly.

"N-No it's not that!" Elanor denied hastily.

"Maybe it's because you don't like it there?" Harry queried rhetorically. "I mean, not to be rude but… you seem like a rather lonely girl." He added gently.

"Hm." She responded simply, though her eyes betrayed her slight sadness.

"Ah nothing to worry about right?" Harry smiled instead, catching her eye. "You got me as your best pal now! I think I'll probably never leave you alone." He ended with a lopsided grin, causing her breath to catch for a moment.

Elanor could only blink before smiling tremulously. "Yeah. That would be nice." She replied shakily, still feeling a little nervous about her the strength of her newfound friendship. She honestly felt like it wouldn't last once the rest of the students got into his head, but dared to hope anyway. She would enjoy his friendship while she still could. No regrets after all.

Flinching for a split second as a deep black wand came across her vision, her eyes suddenly settled onto the slightly concerned gaze of Harry's. "Ah sorry to startle you." He spoke easily, ignoring her knee-jerk reaction to go for her wand. "I just figured you would want me to clear up your hands. I believe you hurt yourself earlier." He added with an easy smile.

"A-Ah yes thank you." She responded slightly nervously.

"No problem." He replied with a smile, waving his wand across her outstretched palms, causing the skin to heal over, and the blood to disappear. "Good as new."

"Thank you." Elanor looked at her hands in slight surprise. "I only just realised you know?"

"What?" Harry frowned.

"You're really good at magic." Elanor spoke conspiratorially. "You didn't even use an incantation, and I know that we don't learn that for a while yet in Hogwarts."

"I mean I've tried a few silent spells before, but it's hard work." She added.

"Lots of practice." Harry responded simply. "It becomes almost second-nature eventually. Besides, healing spells aren't my forte." He added with a sly smirk. "You can always pop round here and practice, since you can't at that orphanage of yours."

"I could?" Elanor asked surprised. "I-I mean, I didn't want to assume I could come back."

"Ah, I could use the company. Apparently I live here by myself." He responded with a good-natured jab.

"Ha. Funny." She replied deadpan.

"I know right?"

* * *

**/**

"I still have loads of unanswered questions you know?" Elanor grumbled good-naturedly as she walked towards the Leaky Cauldron with Harry, who had tossed on a black jacket over a simple t-shirt and jeans while he had waited for Elanor to get changed in her room at the orphanage. She had easily avoided the matron, not wanting to get into an argument with the bint.

"I know." Harry responded simply. "You just haven't asked them yet."

"B-Because you keep getting me side-tracked!" she complained.

"I fail to see how that is my fault." Harry pointed out affably. "If anything, you are as equally responsible for our topics of conversation as me." He added mock-snootily. "It takes two to talk."

"Or just one mildly disturbed person." Elanor replied blandly, secretly harbouring images of Harry having a one-way conversation with his snowy owl, Hedwig. "And his owl." She added under her breath with a small twitch of her lips, so that Harry could not hear it.

"Fair point." He replied smoothly. "Hedwig isn't the greatest conversationalist." He added, sending a knowing look at Elanor, who stopped short, mouth parted slightly in shock.

"How do you do that?" she griped again. "That's so unfair."

"I'm observant." He replied distantly. _I need to be._

Elanor looked at him with a slight frown at the odd tone he had used. "Extremely observant." She replied instead of bringing it up.

"I can also read minds." He added nonchalantly, walking along as though he hadn't just imparted a great secret.

"You can what!?" Elanor suddenly hissed next to him. "Th-That's practically rape!" she trembled as she stepped away from him in slight panic.

"I don't read people's minds on a whim Elanor. And I have certainly not done that to you." He replied firmly, staring her in the eye defiantly. "I'm not that kind of person." He added in a small voice.

Easing slightly at the clear truth that could practically be felt through his words, and his firm no nonsense tone, she nodded slightly. "Just as long as you never do that to me." She narrowed her eyes at him in warning.

"Of course. I'd sicken myself if I invaded a friend's mind with no good reason." He responded honestly.

"I didn't hear a 'never' in there Harry." She pointed out nervously.

"Sometimes it's necessary." Harry replied with a soft sigh. "Can you trust me when I say it has to be a really good reason?"

"I-I guess so." Elanor acceded. "Just… you need to tell me more about you if I'm going to trust you completely. As it is, I barely know you."

"Of course. There's a few things I should tell you." Harry nodded. "I'll tell you about them once we've gotten this shopping trip done. I'll have to teach you something as well if you're going to hear them."

"I guess that's ok?" Elanor replied questioningly.

"Ok." Harry nodded again.

"Shall we, my fair lady?" he smirked slightly, as he held the door of the Leaky Cauldron open, to a now eye-rolling Elanor.

"Of course, my _prince_." She responded, voice dripping with tangible sarcasm, causing him to wince slightly.

"Ouch." He retorted weakly.

Having made their way through the Leaky Cauldron to the brick entrance to Diagon Alley, they had slowly gotten closer to Gringotts, causing some slight nerves to manifest themselves in Elanor.

"You alright there?" Harry asked her concernedly.

"Yeah…" she breathed out softly. "It's just…" she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"This is a finality. You'll have a definite answer, and you're probably unsure of what you're going to think of it." Harry pointed out for her.

_Being Voldemort's daughter though…_ he thought to himself darkly. _That really isn't something she'll ever want to know, but I can't tell her that. Funny how fate chucks me into crazy situations. _He stroked a hand through his messy hair for a moment, while keeping an eye on Elanor, who had seemed to steel herself in preparation. _At least she's keeping it together._

* * *

**/**

"We'd like to see a goblin in charge of inheritance management please." Harry informed a goblin genially.

The goblin looked up from the counter with a surly scowl. "Name?" he growled out.

"It's Harry Potter." He responded easily, causing the goblin to blink.

"Ah, . A pleasure to see you." The goblin replied respectfully, causing Elanor to part her lips in shock.

"Wait here a moment." The goblin added, before hopping off his chair and bustling off to fetch the nearest available inheritance manager.

"That was… polite." She voiced in a small voice.

"So?" Harry replied confusedly.

"He was _polite_." She repeated, stressing the word.

"They're always polite." Harry replied, growing even more confused. "If they were rude, they wouldn't have enough customers."

"But…" Elanor replied in shock. "Ah forget it." She ended sullenly. How was she supposed to tell the oblivious boy that every goblin she'd ever seen had been downright nasty, if not antagonistic. They hated wizards for crying out loud!

"If you say so." Harry responded dubiously, before turning to see the goblin coming back.

"Ah , right this way, Grabgold, the Inheritance Manager will be happy to see you now." He inclined his head, causing Harry to reciprocate the gesture without a thought.

Having taken them towards a private room, the goblin knocked on the door with two sharp raps, causing Grabgold to call out. "You can send him in now!"

Opening the door, he inclined his head towards Harry again. "May your business be profitable."

"Ah thank you Holddebt. I hope you have a pleasant day." Harry smiled genially at him, before firmly leading a shell-shocked Elanor into the private room, seeing Grabgold sat in a soft armchair, two glasses of wine set out on the table.

"Grabgold, a pleasure to see you again!" Harry exclaimed.

"A pleasure equally returned, I assure you." Grabgold responded calmly. "Come, have a glass of wine while we discuss our business Harry."

At this, Elanor sank to the floor in a half-faint, causing Harry to conjure a soft mattress to break her fall slightly.

"Oh dear." Harry remarked. "I'm sure she'll be okay in a moment."

* * *

**AN 13.08.2014**

**That's the second one out of the way. Some reveals done this chapter, ending up in Gringotts where the all important stuff is about to happen for Elanor. Filler-ish I guess, but part of a good story is piecing together everything smoothly and at a good pace. It's been one night so far, and a morning of getting to know each other roughly. I had intended on getting all the gringotts and harry's other bits out of the way, but it flowed into a third chapter well enough, so next chapter has important details.**

**I still like how I wrote this. It fits.**

**Until next time!**


	3. Revealing Ink

**Revealing Ink**

* * *

"You sure you're ready?" Harry frowned, clasping his hands together for a moment, while Grabgold had excused himself, on the premise of collecting the necessary tools.

"No." Elanor replied without hesitation. "But if I don't do it now, I never will." She continued.

"You can always neck that glass of wine down. I mean, I know you're technically not of age, but the stuff is pretty strong, being goblin wine, and it'll calm you down." Harry pointed out, while holding out the glass.

Elanor shot him a nervous glance, before looking at the burgundy red wine in the silver goblet. "Why the hell not?" She murmured quietly, grabbing the goblet and drinking it down in one go, causing her to shudder slightly at the soporific effect, and melt into her chair slightly.

"You were right." She mumbled softly. "Aside from the burn in my throat, I feel more at ease."

"Of course." Harry replied. "It is alcohol after all. Shame you couldn't savour it."

"Stuff it." Elanor responded with a slight slur. "I needed that."

A smooth click of the door sounded out as it opened, revealing Grabgold with an armful of tools for the ritual. Smoothly sliding into the room, he set up all the equipment with practiced ease.

"So Miss. Riddle, are you ready?" he inquired.

Elanor could only gulp slightly, before catching the supportive look on Harry's face. Nodding slightly but not daring to speak, as though she was afraid her voice wouldn't come out.

"It's fairly simple of course, for us goblins at least." Grabgold chimed in. "In fact, Harry is probably one of the only wizards we know that is capable of manipulating the magic of the earth in such a way as we goblins do for this ritual."

"Really?" Elanor asked faintly. "He really is better than I thought."

"Most definitely, I would say Miss. Riddle." Grabgold replied with a nod of his head. "Of course, he won't be as good as a goblin, but for humans, he's good enough." He added with a toothy smirk, causing Harry to groan at the dismal attempt at humour.

Not waiting for Elanor to think about what he had just said, he instead directed her to the seat within the middle of the ritual circle he had set up. Looking back at Harry, she saw him give a slight nod of the head, easing her nerves slightly, though her heart still felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

As she sat down in the directed seat, metal chains wrapped around her wrists and ankles causing her to shout out in surprise. "W-What are you doing!?"

"Now calm down Miss. Riddle, it's just a safety precaution." Grabgold interjected hastily.

"It's just to make sure you won't disturb the ritual while it's in progress, inadvertently or otherwise Elanor." Harry spoke up softly with a placating hand.

"Ok. Ok…" Elanor breathed out slowly, calming down. "It's blood magic right, so when are you slicing me open?" she questioned slightly morbidly, causing Grabgold to drop his jaw in disgust, and Harry to snicker slightly at the goblin's horrified expression.

"Miss. Riddle!" he exclaimed hastily. "That's barbaric!"

"Oh." Elanor blinked at the normally calm goblin's reaction. "But I thought you needed blood for blood magic? Not that I've read about it of course!" she added hastily, causing Harry to snort behind his hands.

"No, of course not!" Grabgold exclaimed. "Most blood magic involves rituals acting on blood within a magical vessel, such as yourself. We certainly don't need to slice you open for this ritual, as it were." He grimaced slightly at the thought.

"A queasy goblin?" Elanor voiced without thinking. "And I thought it only stopped at polite goblins." She added, her view of the world mock-shattering in her mind's eye.

This time, Harry couldn't help but burst out laughing, as Grabgold smacked his head into his hands, muttering about crazy humans.

With a flick of his fingers, both Elanor and Harry were silenced, though Harry could still be seen laughing in the background.

"Well, now that there will be no interruptions, we shall begin." Grabgold queried with a slightly annoyed expression. "Last chance to stop." He added with a crafty smirk.

"Oh? No objections then." He finished, smirking at the horror-struck expression on Elanor's face.

And with a growly cackle, he stroked a finger down the rune carved into the floor, causing it to light up in an eerie red glow, spreading around the chair in a circle, activating each rune at the four points of what would be a standard compass for muggles.

Pulling out a piece of parchment, he placed it onto a hovering rune that had appeared when all four points had activated, causing the entire circle to flow into a tangible dome of partly transparent red, before it faded away, a glowing red ring the only thing that could be seen around the chair.

Having affirmed for himself that the entire circle was set up, and the recording rune had been linked with the empty parchment, Grabgold gave a nod of his head towards Harry. "It's ready. I trust you will avoid interrupting this ritual?" he queried him firmly.

"Of course Grabgold." Harry responded honestly. "I'm only here as… emotional support, I guess."

"I didn't remove that silencing charm Harry." Grabgold narrowed his eyes at him dangerously, causing Harry to smirk slightly.

"Of course not." He replied in good humour. "My voice has a mind of its own see?"

"Well, as long as you make no noise to disrupt this." Grabgold growled out.

"You have my word." Harry responded seriously.

Eyeing Harry warily for a few moments more, he nodded his head and turned towards the circle, holding out both hands, hands touching the perimeter.

Beginning to chant in goblin tongue, the glow of the circle intensified, and a background hum started in the air. Magic began flooding the room, almost tangible, as with each spoken word, the circle thrummed, flaring brighter and brighter as Grabgold's voice, reminiscent of grinding stone, of waterfalls crashing down, and of the tinkling of jewels more and more frenzied with each passing second. The hum in the air reached practically painful levels, but Harry clenched his fists, willing himself to endure the intoxicating flood of magic, locking his eyes onto Elanor's who seemed to have clouded over as the magic did it's work. Finally after what seemed like hours, but what was merely a few minutes, fiery letters began burning into the parchment, and Harry's skin seemed to crawl with ants, causing him to clench his eyes slightly, as the words began to fade away, leaving behind the parchment, and a silent Grabgold. With a gesture, the runic circle faded, leaving a heavily breathing Elanor sat in the chair.

"That was intense." She voiced weakly, trying to catch her breath again. "Wow."

"Yeah." Harry voiced in a quiet voice, but carrying out through the room, cutting through the sudden silence left behind. "Very powerful magic."

"If you would be kind enough to collect Miss. Riddle, we can go over the results can we not?" Grabgold interjected.

"Sure." Harry stood up, ignoring the sudden shiver that ran through him, before touching a hand to the chair and releasing the restraints. "Need a hand?" he asked Elanor, who seemed unwilling to move at the moment.

"You'll have to pick me up." She voiced embarrassedly. "My legs feel like jelly."

Scooping her up against his back, she wrapped her arms around his neck, while he held onto her legs to hold her steady. He carried her over to the soft armchairs they had sat in while discussing business, before sliding her into one, and seating himself in the other. Grabgold in the meantime was scanning the parchment, before looking up at them.

"You are ready for the results?" he queried lightly.

"Sure." Harry replied for her, as her mouth seemed unwilling to work at the moment.

Grabgold blinked for a moment, deciding how best to go about it. Normally, he'd hit his customers straight, but with a friend of Harry's he didn't want to be brusque about it. As if reading his mind, Harry cut in.

"Just give it to her straight, it's pointless sugar-coating it Grabgold." He remarked firmly.

"Of course." Grabgold replied simply.

"Well Miss. Riddle, the results are rather straightforward." He began, causing Elanor to look at him. "Your mother, Alya Carina Black, as we already know, is deceased, and is confirmed by the results on this parchment."

"And my dad?" Elanor murmured quietly.

"Your father, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is also listed as deceased, I'm afraid." Grabgold replied gently, causing Elanor to lower her head sadly.

"So. At least I know." Elanor sighed.

"Yes. You are handling this better than many I have seen before Miss. Riddle." Grabgold informed her respectfully.

"Well it's not as if I ever knew him." She remarked slightly bitterly. "Nothing to care about." She added lowly, causing Harry to wince slightly.

"Grabgold, what else is there?" he instead pointed out, having seen him waiting patiently for Elanor.

"Well, the magic has identified their death dates, if you wish to know." Grabgold grimaced slightly at the results on the parchment.

"Yes, I want to know." Elanor replied firmly. "Tell me."

"Your mother, Alya, was officially deceased on the twenty-third of February, nineteen-eighty." He replied.

"Not long after I was dropped off at that orphanage then." Elanor murmured. "And my dad?"

"Your father, Tom, was recorded as officially deceased on the thirty-first of October, nineteen-eighty-one." He voiced carefully, glancing at Harry with a questioning look, causing him to nod back, before giving a small shake of the head.

"That's ironic." Elanor mumbled. "Same day as the dark lord." she whispered curiously.

"An… unfortunate coincidence, Miss. Riddle." Grabgold voiced carefully shooting another glare at Harry.

At this Elanor buried her head in her hands with a sigh. "I'm not sure knowing is better than not-knowing now either."

"When you think back on it later, you won't have any regrets about not finding out as soon as you could." Harry spoke up gently.

"Besides, I know your full name now." Harry smirked slightly, causing Elanor to look at him with slightly puffy eyes, before scoffing at him slightly. "Elanor Alya Riddle. That's interesting."

"So what's yours?" Elanor gave a wan smile at his attempts to ease the mood.

"Harry James Potter, at your service." He stood up and bowed slightly, sweeping an imaginary hat off his head, causing her to stifle a small giggle.

"While we're here, we should find out if your father or mother left a usable vault behind." Harry pointed out, pulling her to her feet.

"If I have to." She scowled slightly.

"Ah no need to Miss. Riddle." Grabgold began, before she cut in.

"If you can call him Harry, call me Elanor." She scowled again. "Miss. Riddle sounds like you're talking to an old woman."

"Bu-" Grabgold tried to begin, before Elanor cut across once more.

"Call. Me. Elanor." She voiced dangerously, eyes flashing slightly. Harry gave a weak chuckle at this.

"Yes! Of course Elanor!" Grabgold voiced suspiciously squeaky all of a sudden, causing Harry's grin to widen. "As I was saying, we already know that you have a vault available, belonging to your father."

"Oh." Elanor blinked slightly. "And I can use this?"

"Yes of course, we goblins don't like sitting on money we can't do anything with. It would be our pleasure to get the gold flowing again, as it were!" Grabgold smirked. "He did leave behind a decent amount of gold too!"

* * *

**/**

"I'm rich?" Elanor voiced up all of a sudden, while she was walking down Diagon Alley with a quietly contemplative Harry.

"Sorta." He replied. "It won't last forever, but a few years of spending won't hurt too much."

"You'll have plenty to get through Hogwarts with, with a good bit spare."

"Oh. Good." Elanor blinked, before turning to Harry. "It's nothing compared to your vault though. I've never seen so much gold in my life."

This caused Harry to cough uncomfortably. "Yeah well, I don't plan on living my entire life just spending my money on whatever I want."

"You don't act like a rich kid." Elanor instead pointed out. "People like the Malfoys flaunt their wealth all over the place. You seem pretty humble."

"Yes, well I didn't know about any of my money until I was eleven." Harry pointed out. "The people I lived with taught me the value of things. I never even considered throwing around my money, because I know what it's like to go without it."

"That explains a lot." Elanor concurred.

"Who are the Malfoys anyway?" Harry asked.

"You don't know them?" Elanor voiced in surprise.

"Should I?" Harry pointed out. "It's not as if I've been involved in the wizarding world around here." He added, squirming slightly at her searching gaze.

"Sounds plausible." She pointed out shrewdly. "In any case, they're an old family of purebloods. They all have bright blonde hair and everything. Draco Malfoy's father, who is in Slytherin with me, has the ear of the minister, or so he keeps parroting." She added scowling slightly, causing Harry to snort.

"Let me guess. He thinks the world revolves around his family or something?" Harry smirked. "Sounds like the typical snobby pureblood with too much cash to burn."

"You can put it that way." Elanor confirmed. "I've always considered Malfoy to be a pretentious, stuck-up peacock anyway. His father is a hell of a lot slimier though."

"I'll be sure to avoid them. They don't sound like they would agree with me." Harry chuckled. "I might end up hexing this Malfoy if he's as bad as I think he's going to be."

"Don't let me stop you." Elanor smirked.

"It's funny though, money can get you pretty much anywhere in either world." Harry voiced. "Besides, I doubt Malfoy's wealth holds a candle to mine."

"Careful now, you're beginning to sound like a snob." Elanor giggled. "And how would you know that?"

"I was… quietly informed I had the richest accounts in all of Gringotts far and away above others." Harry coughed slightly uncomfortably. "Though not so much in the way of property and stuff."

This caused Elanor to look at him, before sighing and shaking her head. "You just get more mysterious every minute."

"Not my fault!" Harry scowled. "I didn't ask to be rich or anything!"

"I know, I know." Elanor sighed. "Aren't you going to do some shopping or something? I have a little extra money I can spend, and I'm not sure what to do with it."

"You can always buy a magical trunk." Harry suggested seriously. "I'm sure there's always something you can't fit into a normal school trunk."

"That's a good idea." Elanor smiled slightly. "I could use something I can fit all my belongings into. I usually end up having to leave a whole bunch of clothes and stuff behind."

"_Clothes._" Harry mock-scoffed.

"Hey!"

* * *

**/**

Having haggled fiercely with the magical trunk salesman, Harry had achieved an amazing discount of… a galleon. This caused him to sulk for a great deal of time, before Elanor whacked him upside the head, having witnessed the train wreck of that particular negotiation. The salesman had laughed him out of the door after Elanor had paid for her little three compartment trunk, expanded slightly to fit more inside, than her standard non-magical school trunk.

"Stupid salesman." He muttered vehemently.

"And here I thought you were good with money." Elanor teasingly remarked.

"Ah forget it!" he growled, gripping his hair slightly, before dropping his hands to his side and sighing in exasperation.

They had spent the last few hours wandering around Diagon Alley, looking through all the curio shops, having picked up both their school supplies in short order. Elanor was looking at his pocket slightly jealously, having seen him pull out a miniature trunk, only for it to suddenly expand into a full sized, five compartment trunk which he stuffed everything into. In the meantime, she was dragging around a non-shrinking trunk, which thankfully, Harry had pinged with a Featherweight charm, to make it easier to lug around.

"So what are we doing now?" Elanor sighed at watching Harry walking around without a care in the world. "If it's all the same to you, I need to head back, I'm tired and cranky, and I'm still upset and… gah." Elanor ranted.

"Ah, you can head back if you like. I still have a few things to take care of as well." Harry replied without looking.

"If you say so." Elanor scowled slightly. "Guess I'll see you around sometime."

"Yeah sure." Harry turned and grinned slightly. "Besides, my door's open to you anytime you like."

"Really?" Elanor mumbled.

"Yeah, really." Harry confirmed with a nod. "Hey, you can head back to my place now if you want. The door will let you in."

"I'm allowed to do that?" Elanor blinked. "And how will the door let me in?"

"Yes of course, and I keyed your signature into my wards, so touching the door will open it for you." Harry nodded.

"That's… nice of you." Elanor responded meekly, blinking away the water in her eyes for a moment.

"Well I did say you could come round anytime." Harry smiled.

"Still, no one's ever given me a place I can go to anytime I like. Willingly anyway." Elanor replied.

"Well you got one now." Harry smiled.

"Yeah… Thanks."

* * *

**/**

Having said their goodbyes for a moment, Harry watched Elanor head off towards the Leaky Cauldron, before turning around and looking towards the entrance of Knockturn Alley.

"Ah, it's so much easier doing this kind of stuff without company." He remarked casually, before ducking into a side street, free of wandering eyes. He swiftly transfigured his black jacket into a dark cloak with hood, spelling his face with some sort of charm, causing it to be blacked out, as if by an impenetrable shadow. Only his green eyes were left visible, as he stalked into Knockturn Alley.

He made his way, slowly winding down the path towards a curious little shop called Borgin and Burkes. The proprietor, was bumbling about behind his counter, looking up as Harry pushed the door inwards with a sharp creak. He was a sallow-faced man, stooping ever so slightly, dressed in threadbare robes, only accentuating the atmosphere of the place, of a dark and gloomy shop. He brushed his greasy hair back for a moment, before welcoming him in.

"Welcome, welcome, sir to Borgin and Burkes." He wheezed slightly, rubbing his hands together as though preparing to gain some gold. "May I interest you in anything?"

"I dare say you can." Harry replied, his voice coming out dark and silky, making the room chill, and causing Borgin to shiver a little at the tone.

"In fact… I'm looking for a certain book." Harry continued conspiratorially, drawing Borgin's attention to the chance of earning money. "Would you happen to have books about…" Harry paused for a moment, looking around to check they were alone, also causing Borgin's excitement to increase slightly.

"_Occlumency?_" He whispered near his ear.

"Oh." Borgin raised an eyebrow. "Yes of course sir… let me just go fetch what you require."

Harry nodded, before Borgin quickly headed into the backroom, Harry being able to hear him rummaging around, obviously pretending to search through his books. It wasn't as if he would be keeping an illegal book just lying around. In fact, Harry could practically feel that warded safe he had hidden under the floorboards back there.

After a quick shake of the head, Borgin came back out of the room, holding a book wrapped in threadbare cloth.

"This is what you're after sir." Borgin stated with ease.

Scanning the cover, and discreetly casting a few charms to identify that the contents matched what he was expecting to receive, he nodded at Borgin. "Yes. Exactly what I'm looking for."

"Good to know sir." Borgin smirked, "That will be two hundred galleons."

At this, Harry snapped his head up and looked at Borgin in the eye, causing him to fidget nervously.

"What is the real price Borgin?" he voiced dangerously, causing him to shiver again.

"F-For you, fifty galleons!" Borgin stuttered.

"Unnaceptable." Harry replied succinctly, eyes seemingly glowing vivid green through his hood, causing Borgin to shiver once more.

"B-But sir, it's illegal. V-very hard to get hold of, very rare." he tried to plead.

"Twenty, and not a knut more." Harry stated simply, glaring deep into his eyes, causing Borgin to shriek slightly, before hastily accepting.

"Yes, yes of course!" he exclaimed fearfully.

Pausing a moment to hand over twenty galleons, he wrapped the book in his cloak. Turning to face Borgin once more, he gripped both his arms.

"I only have to make sure you tell no one." Harry chuckled darkly, hands digging painfully into Borgin's arms.

"N-Never! I-I don't betray customers!" Borgin cried out.

"Unless it's to save your own skin, I'm sure." Harry whispered into his ear.

"**You won't tell anyone about me.**" Harry hissed, magic inflecting his voice with power, and causing Borgin's eyes to glaze slightly.

"I won't tell anyone about you." He responded dully.

"Good." Harry replied darkly. "Until next time, !" he called out with a cackle, his cloak swishing out the door, while Borgin stood there shivering slightly at the image of glowing Avada Kedavra green eyes burnt into his mind.

* * *

**/**

Elanor had finally managed to lug her trunk all the way to Harry's house, the Featherweight charm unfortunately having worn off halfway there, causing her to have to drag her trunk the rest of the way. She'd gotten a few curious stares, but no offers of help, as per usual.

Having set the trunk in the living room, she had helped herself to a drink, before saying hello to Hedwig, Harry's owl, and collapsing in a chair, to rest for a bit. Funnily enough, she had spoken to the owl for a minute, though she could have sworn Hedwig understood everything she was saying, but she had no idea what the owl was thinking. She realised Harry's penchant of talking to the owl had rubbed off on her at some point, and she felt slightly embarrassed at that fact.

Settling herself into the chair and watching Hedwig sleep slowly eased her into her own. Her breathing became deeper and more relaxed, as she felt like a weight had been taken off her shoulders, despite knowing she truly had no family anymore. It really was better to know, she mused silently as she drifted off into the land of Morpheus.

* * *

**AN 13.08.2014**

**I had intended to do Harry's reveals and stuff here, but the word count flew away from me. Next chapter it will have to be. As well as Elanor finally meeting Isabella, that beautiful snake, and learning more about magic in general. Still to come is the Quidditch World Cup, or at least their reaction to the aftermath of it, and a general time-skip for a few weeks. I don't intend to write this as a day by day fic, but the first few days of any relationship requires good establishment. That's simply all it is.**

**Elanor Alya Riddle : Sun-Star, Serpent, Mystery (For those of you interested in the meaning behind the name)**

**Until next time!**


	4. Pretty Bella

**Pretty Bella**

* * *

"_Pretty one indeed."_ The icy blue eyed snake blinked, before cocking her head to the other side as she looked upon the sleeping form of Elanor, resting peacefully in the chair.

"_But what is it about you that master finds interesting?" _she pondered out loud, causing Elanor to shift slightly in the chair. _"Is it your looks perhaps? No… I am far more beautiful than her."_

"_You too Hedwig!" _she hissed petulantly at the scoffing bark the owl had given her. _"Master tells me so!"_

"_And what would you know about beauty bird-brain!?" _she reared up, head almost reaching the ceiling to hiss in the owl's face in anger.

"_No that wasn't a compliment!" _

A series of barks and hoots sounded out, before Hedwig promptly cuffed a wing around Isabella's head, causing her to hiss in shock.

"_What are you doing harpy!?"_

"_Stop hitting me!"_

"_I'm going to tell master on you!" _she hissed out, almost crying out, before she knocked over an armchair when slithering back away from the vicious owl.

"_Oops."_ She muttered, as a loud crash sounded, causing Elanor to jerk up in her chair, eyes bursting open in shock.

"_Is it too late to say it wasn't me?"_ she hissed questioningly at the dumbstruck owl.

* * *

**/**

Elanor stared directly at the icy blue eyes of a giant black scaled snake for one long quiet moment, before it hit her.

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"_ she screamed piercingly, before tipping her chair back, and falling out. As she scrambled to get to her feet and draw her wand, her only thoughts were on the fact that there was an absolutely massive snake in Harry's house.

Running towards the door she stumbled to a halt, as the snake curled around her, like a boundary line, head facing her and blocking the doorway.

"_Wait! Calm down please!"_ it whined, flinching as Elanor stumbled back in shock, wand slipping out of her hand.

"_You can talk!"_ Elanor exclaimed in shock and confusion. _"How can you talk!?"_

This caused the snake to blink, before cocking its head to the side, almost like a curious child. _"You can hear me?"_

"…"

"_You're a speaker!" _the snake exclaimed, ignoring the slight tremble Elanor had as she spoke. _"I thought I'd never see another one!"_

"_W-Wait, I can talk to snakes?" _Elanor voiced out nervously, while gripping her recovered wand tightly.

"_Yes! You are speaking parseltongue."_ The snake confirmed. _"The noble tongue of snakes or some such rot. I never brought into that elitism crap but oh well."_

"_Oh god, Oh god, Oh god." _Elanor mumbled in panic. _"Nooo this is very bad, very bad."_

"_What's bad?" _the snake asked her curiously, head moving forwards towards her slightly.

"_I always thought there was something wrong with me… Now I know, I'm evil aren't I?"_ Elanor mumbled feverishly, until the snake's tail flicked her in the forehead.

"_You don't seem evil to me."_ The snake voiced promptly. _"If you were, I would already have eaten you to protect my Harry."_

"_Y-You're Harry's snake?" _Elanor queried twitchily. _"You would have eaten me?"_ she added with a squeak.

"_Yes. I protect my master Harry, as he protects me."_ The snake replied, now with a noticeable feminine lilt, though it was at first indistinguishable to Elanor. _"You're interesting, but not dangerous."_ She added.

"_Thank you?"_ Elanor replied questioningly, having calmed down slightly, but still holding onto her wand tightly for protection.

"_I still maintain that I am more beautiful than you though."_ The snake continued with surety. _"Master Harry would certainly say so too!"_

"_Of course!" _Elanor agreed weakly, hoping to placate a possibly jealous snake. _And wasn't that just strange? _she thought oddly.

"_U-Um… What is your name? I can't keep thinking of you as snake."_ Elanor voiced more boldly.

"_My name is Isabella, Elanor Riddle. Master Harry calls me Bella, so you may too."_ Isabella voiced imperiously.

"I should have known you would know my name." Elanor replied. _"So, Bella, is Harry… a parseltongue too?"_

"_Harry is a Parselmouth. Parseltongue is the language." _Bella replied.

"_Oh. So he… talks to you?"_ Elanor questioned.

"_Every day! He's always there for me."_ Bella replied happily. _"Though since you came along, he hasn't been able to speak with me for a while."_ She added with a slight jealous tilt to her voice.

"_I-I'm sure he just didn't want to scare me off!"_ Elanor raised two hands in a placating gesture. _"I'm sure he'll be able to talk to you more now that I know. And I can talk too!"_ she added quickly.

"_Hmph."_ Bella snorted. _"At least I have somebody other than that vicious harpy to talk to when Harry's not around."_

"_Yes of course!" _Elanor replied hastily. _"I'll be around as well!"_

"_I wonder what master will do with you." _Bella murmured all of a sudden.

"_Wha-What do you mean?"_ Elanor flinched. _"Do with me?"_ she added nervously.

"_I don't know. He doesn't like people knowing he's a parselmouth. But you are one too, so I don't know what he will do."_ Bella replied. _"Anyone else who's discovered it has been dealt with."_

"_Dealt with?"_ Elanor shivered. _"He… he wouldn't do that to me would he?"_

Bella blinked in surprise at her question. _"It's not what you're thinking. He removes their memory of the event. He's a good master."_

"_Ok… Ok." _Elanor breathed slightly shallowly.

"_I won't let him remove your memory. I could use some actual female company."_ Bella replied kindly. _"That vicious harpy isn't what I'd call good company."_ Bella seemed to scowl, shooting a glare at the preening snowy owl.

"_Tell me about your day out with master Harry."_ Bella spoke. _"I usually get to see what he does, but not today."_ She seemed to pout slightly, as she looked at Elanor, causing her to capitulate with a sigh.

"_Sure."_

* * *

**/**

"Yes Grabgold, I am sure." Harry sighed wearily, having repeated that same statement several times already.

"You do realise, this could get us all in trouble?" Grabgold growled out slightly crankily.

"That's where you're wrong. None of this will cause you trouble." Harry grumbled. "As far as you're concerned, you don't know who Tom Marvolo Riddle is." He finished with a slight hiss.

"But the problem is, I do know who he is!" the goblin growled, in a rare display of anger. "Dumbledore will bring us all to ruin, and the girl along with him!"

"**Silence!**" Harry snarled, eyes boring into Grabgold's, daring him to say another word. "I can make you forget. Bury it so deep that not even Voldemort himself can recover that memory!"

"And before you mention the bloody paperwork, I've already dealt with that too." Harry smiled grimly. "You, me and Elanor are the only ones who know that this ritual was done. I took care of Holddebt for you."

"You did what?" Grabgold narrowed his eyes at Harry. "How dare you harm a goblin!" he snarled.

"I did not harm him in the slightest!" Harry barked, shutting down his rant. "I destroyed that memory extremely thoroughly. It's unrecoverable, and hasn't harmed him at all."

Pausing to let Grabgold simmer down for a moment, he continued. "Before you mention the fact that the higher rank goblins also know about Riddle, they don't. I checked."

"What!?" Grabgold snarled. "Did you do that to them as well!?"

"No!" Harry snapped. "Who else would have done it but Dumbledore! You know how far he's gone to make everyone forget Voldemort's real name! The old coot must have done it a long time ago. Probably as soon as he had discovered her!"

"The bastard probably swindled himself into a meeting with the High King!" Harry continued in a low hiss. "And you know just as well as any other goblin, Dumbledore is not particularly trustworthy when it comes to magical creatures."

"You're just lucky Dumbledore failed to notice that oversight with your position as Inheritance Manager." He finished steadily. "The old man is not perfect."

At this, Grabgold scowled slightly. "You're probably right." He stated simply.

"So what now Harry?" Grabgold queried him calmly. "I'm willing to let you remove this memory, only if it makes the safety of Gringotts a certainty." He added firmly.

"If I do this, the memory is unrecoverable. This isn't a Memory charm Grabgold." Harry sighed wearily. "No goblin within Gringotts knows a single damn thing about Tom Marvolo Riddle, other than you. The only knowledge they have is that Tom Marvolo Riddle opened a vault here, is dead, and the vault has been inherited by Elanor Alya Riddle."

"I made certain to close all the loopholes." Harry added carefully. "Dumbledore has no authority over Tom's vault, so he can't even find out the status of it, unless he openly tried to attack you with magic."

"What's stopping him from reworking our memories again?" Grabgold pointed out shrewdly.

At this, Harry smirked slightly. "Hypothetically speaking, I may have created a ward that blocks all known forms of memory editing, including Legilmency. And also hypothetically, I may have put the ward stone under High King Ragnok's desk." He finished with a lopsided grin, causing Grabgold to snort in good humour.

"While he was sat there working." Harry delivered the punch with a mischievous glint in his emerald eyes, causing Grabgold to topple off his chair in shock.

"Hey what can I say, I'm good at what I do." Harry shrugged as Grabgold looked at him in slight awe.

"Better than that Harry." Grabgold responded, causing Harry to cock his head at him. "Ok."

"Do it Harry."

"…"

"You really shouldn't sleep on the job old friend." Harry remarked with a smirk, eyeing a slowly coming to Grabgold.

"Uh?"

* * *

**/**

"_So, how long have you been with Harry?"_ Elanor asked curiously, leaning back against Bella's smooth onyx coils like a makeshift pillow.

"_Ah hm…"_ Bella frowned for a moment seemingly thinking. _"Twelve years."_ She replied after a while, nodding her head as she did so.

"_Wow. You've been with him since he was a baby?"_ Elanor raised an eyebrow at her.

"_Mhm."_ Bella hummed in reply.

"_No wonder you're so close to him."_ Elanor sighed. _"Must be nice having a friend all those years."_

"_In a manner of speaking."_ Bella replied smoothly. _"He's often quite infuriating, wouldn't you agree?"_

"_Yeah. He already knows how to irritate me if he wants to, and I've known him for like, two days at the most."_ Elanor frowned.

"_Funny though."_ She murmured absently, causing Bella to snicker.

"_No! I did not just say that!"_ Elanor cried out in horror. _"He's poisoned me!"_ she moaned desperately.

"_Ah, it's inevitable Elanor."_ Bella replied smugly. _"My Harry wraps everyone in his coils."_

This caused Elanor to giggle slightly at the exceedingly obvious possessiveness of Bella. She even thought of him as a man-snake, or so she had implied during their talk.

Elanor looked up at Bella's eyes for a moment, remembering how she had slowly drawn her into a conversation, steadily wringing out any stress or nerves with patience, and a cunning edge that Bella personified greatly. She had forgotten she was talking to a snake entirely, let alone the whole Parselmouth thing.

"_You're a sly one Bella."_ She remarked casually, causing her to snicker.

"_Oh hush."_ Bella replied softly. _"I'm a snake. It's my nature."_ She finished with a smirk.

"Hey! You in here Elanor?" Harry's voice called out from the hallway, as his footsteps carried him closer.

"Yeah Harry!" Elanor called back, fixing an eye on the door as he came striding through it, toppling straight over Bella's coils, and landing on the floor in a heap. She couldn't help the bright and loud laughter as she doubled over in amusement, watching Bella suddenly cry out in shock and horror, and immediately begin fussing over him.

"_Master Harry! I'm so sorry!"_ she cried out. _"Are you hurt? What do I do?"_

A groan later from Harry as he got up on his knees, he replied calmly. _"Yeah pretty Bella. I'm fine." _He sighed slightly before blinking at the sight of Elanor laughing so hard that her voice couldn't even be heard, and the fact that Bella was in the same room.

"Ok." Harry began carefully. "When exactly did this happen?"

At this, Bella shyly hung her head as she explained for the currently incapacitated Elanor. _"I, um, I know you said I should avoid her, but I couldn't help myself. You see… it's all Hedwig's fault."_ She began.

"_If she hadn't insulted my beauty none of this would have happened!"_ she cried out indignantly.

"Ok, I get the feeling you're leaving things out, but I guess there's no harm done at the moment." Harry frowned, as Elanor nodded along to Bella's self-absorbed explanation.

"Seems I'm a parselmouth too." Elanor murmured. "I mean, at first I thought Bella was a giant man-eating, talking snake."

"I'm still not sure how we ended up in a conversation where she shared all the stupid things you've ever done." She added with a straight face.

"_You did what!?"_ Harry exclaimed at Bella.

"_Harry, we're keeping this one, so why wouldn't I share things about my master with her?"_ Bella nodded at her own logic.

"_B-But…"_ Harry spluttered, looking at the steadily cracking face of Elanor, who was threatening to break out into a wide smile, or hysterical laughter, probably both, he thought. At least until her words got through to Elanor.

"_W-Wait what the hell do you mean, keeping me?"_ Elanor exclaimed in shock.

At this, Harry snorted. "Don't worry, I'll feed you regularly."

"Bella can take you on walks too." He added glibly.

"Harry!" Elanor shouted. "Quit your joking around!"

"Ah." Harry blinked stupidly for a moment. "Sure."

"Good." She stated firmly. "I believe there's a few things you need to tell me now."

"…"

"Or at least, you were planning on telling me a few things, I seem to remember you saying." Elanor continued. _"Wouldn't you agree Bella?"_

"_Of course Elanor!" _Bella responded smoothly.

"Well… I guess I can tell you, but remember what I said about something I would have to teach you?" Harry began carefully.

"I seem to remember that yeah." Elanor mused. "Is it something good?"

"It's an entire branch of magic." Harry replied. "Of course, I think you'll have some aptitude for it, but we'll have to see how easy it is for you."

"Oh." Elanor replied simply.

"I do need you to know this if you want to know a few things." Harry grimaced slightly. "I like to keep my secrets close to my chest, but some of them, you'll need to know and be able to protect them yourself. I can't tell you if you can't protect them."

"Right." Elanor replied firmly, steel in her eyes. "So, I need to learn this to learn more about you."

"I suppose so." Harry replied.

"Ok, I can do that." Elanor stated simply. "It's only fair that you need to be able to trust me as well."

"I feel I can trust you, but I can't trust what others might do." Harry pointed out. "It's not a problem of trust, more to do with my safety, and most likely yours too, if you're going to be a friend of mine."

"I could hide everything from you, but you wouldn't trust me otherwise." Harry added.

"Probably." Elanor replied, inwardly thinking that she would probably have ignored that considering the circumstances where she hadn't actually got any friends in life. Though she wasn't a hundred percent sure she could trust his intentions, having learnt he was capable of reading her completely thoroughly.

* * *

**/**

"Anyway, now that this room has been tidied up, no thanks to Bella." Harry started. "I can start to explain what I mean by protecting my secrets."

"Ok." Elanor replied simply.

"The Mind Magics cover a variety of things, from compulsion charms, memory charms, Legilmency, Occlumency, and even relate to things like the Patronus Charm, Black Magic, Light Magic, and the Unforgiveables." Harry began a soft lecturing tone. "In fact, the Mind Magics are actually so broad, that they cover all magic fields. However, where it really comes into play is with Legilmency and Occlumency."

Seeing Elanor nodding slightly at the explanation, he could also tell she had several questions, but was content to wait for him to get to the crux of the matter.

"Ok." Harry continued. "The Mind Magics, as stated by the ministry, are illegal."

"Illegal?" Elanor exclaimed in surprise. "But you mentioned all sorts of things, like compulsion charms and the Patronus. They're not illegal."

"If you know the ministry laws well enough, they have a ridiculously narrow definition of the Mind Magics. They're wrong of course, considering how compulsion and memory charms can be very dangerous. There are laws involving the use of memory charms though, so it's not all bad." Harry replied. "What they specifically call the Mind Magics, are traditionally called the Mind Arts, Occlumency and Legilmency."

"Occlumency, is the act of closing the mind from external penetration. It has existed since ancient times. It was an extremely obscure branch of practice, but useful." Harry stated.

"So… why is that illegal?" Elanor asked with a frown. "It seems useful for anyone."

"Too useful." Harry replied with a small smile. "It can prevent a Legilmens from accessing your thoughts and feelings, perusing your memories and influencing you. However, accomplished Occlumens are dangerous to the ministry. It is a very powerful method of resisting Veritaserum, an extremely powerful truth potion, used in interrogations and strictly controlled by the ministry." Harry added. "By banning Occlumency, they try to ensure no one can overcome their methods of control, or even stave off the effects of dementors, for one." He finished calmly.

Elanor shivered slightly at his darker tone when mentioning the dementors. Having experienced their effects for herself, she seemed to understand the feeling behind it, especially if he had also felt the effects before. Pushing the thought out of her mind, she spoke up.

"So Legilmency is the reverse, in a way?" she queried casually. "It can be used to influence people's thoughts and feelings, even to work like an Imperius curse, imposing their will on the victim?"

"Yeah, you're pretty quick to get this. Better than I did at first." Harry smiled in slight remembrance.

"You're a Legilmens aren't you?" Elanor looked at him curiously. "There's more to it right?" she added causing Harry to shudder slightly.

"Yeah. It's an extremely easily twisted discipline. To a person without morals, it can be used to warp a person's mind, alter memories, insert fake memories, to completely twist a person until they are completely unrecognisable." Harry scowled. "In fact, even the best intentions are still reprehensible, but I had to deal with being a natural Legilmens anyway."

"It's why I'm an Occlumens." Harry murmured. "Legilmency is almost one of the most horrifying branches of magic I've ever seen."

"I see you don't care much for the law." Elanor smiled, to put him at ease. "To be honest, I think Occlumency is something everyone should learn from what you've told me."

"Whether everyone knowing it would be a good thing, I don't know." Harry grinned. "Legilmency though, that can stay forever banned."

"You said you were a natural Legilmens." Elanor pointed out. "How is that possible?"

"How should I explain it?" Harry pondered. "Ahh. Do you remember getting your wand from Ollivanders?"

"Yeah, why?" Elanor asked curiously.

"Well it's simple, did he tell you what the strengths of your wand were?" Harry queried. "Natural talents are similar in a way, where some are natural inclined to Herbology or Potions for example."

"Ah, I get it." Elanor replied comprehendingly. "I'll keep my wand's strengths to myself though."

Harry just waved a hand in dismissal. "Yeah, I wasn't actually asking to know, just using it as a point of reference."

"Anyway, when I was growing up, I could always seem to tell when someone was hiding something, or lying to me." Harry stated. "That's basically how I became a Legilmens. I started unconsciously using weak Legilmency, and ended up at this point."

"It's not a pleasant thought, because the Dark Lord was said to be the world's most powerful Legilmens, and that's not a discipline I like to share with him." He added.

"Ah, yeah, and we both speak parseltongue." Elanor grimaced. "I can see why you'd want me to know Occlumency."

"Since I'm an accomplished Legilmens, I can actually attempt to read your mind." Harry stated. "Of course, if you're not willing, the best I can do is guide you through the process of learning Occulmency. I picked up this book while you were back here." He added, passing her an old slightly battered book, called 'To Occlude by Serin Damatoll'.

"That should explain the more advanced aspects of Occlumency, and the beginning steps to becoming an Occlumens. It basically involves a lot of meditation." Harry spoke smoothly. "Of course, these books are practically non-existent, so it won't explain every possible method. I don't use this method either, but that's because my mind works completely differently to the classic Occlumens."

"I think you can use it though, because you seem to be in good control of your emotions, where I wear my heart on my sleeve, or at least used to." He continued.

"So how good are you at Occlumency Harry?" she asked curiously, leafing through the first few pages of the book.

"I said I was a natural Legilmens." Harry began. "I have no natural aptitude for Occulmency, but I am a far more skilled Occlumens than Legilmens. That's mainly because I know what a Legilmens is fully capable of, and all the tricks and exploits they can use, unfortunately."

"I made certain to practice Occlumency twice as hard as I ever did Legilmency, so I made sure my mind is my own." He added. "Against other Legilmens, I don't fully know how effective I will be, but I know I'm capable of practically making my mind invisible if I want to." He smirked slyly.

"If you're anywhere near as capable at it as I am, you will be just fine."

"Nice to know." Elanor pointed out with a small scoff. "Don't bloat your ego too much now." She smirked.

"Well, it's getting late now." Harry pointed out with a weary sigh. "So I don't know whether you're going to stop the night again or pop back to the orphanage."

"I'll stop over. I want to read some of this before I go bed anyway." Elanor replied, eyes already engrossed in the pages of the book.

"Alright. I'll go put Bella in her room, considering she fell asleep barely a minute into our little chat." Harry smiled softly, before gently levitating her with a flick of his wand, and a small pushing gesture later, she floated out of the door with Harry following behind.

"And he better explain some of the more obscure stuff about the mind magics tomorrow." Elanor grumbled. "I'll be damned if I go back to Hogwarts without learning some of the stuff he's picked up."

* * *

**/**

"Ugh." Elanor groaned, as she lifted her head up off the wooden table. "I fell asleep down here?"

"God, that sucks!" she groaned, trying to stretch the kinks out of her back. "I feel so damn stiff."

"Yeah well, I'm surprised you didn't go read that in bed. You'd have woken up comfier." Harry's voice called from the doorway.

"Didn't think of it at the time." She scowled.

"_You'll learn."_ Bella's soft hissing could be heard as she slithered into the room, curling up by the fireplace.

"_Guess I'll just have to do that next time."_ She replied.

"_If not, I'll just carry you to bed myself."_ Harry cut in glibly. _"I'll try not to drop you."_

"_You had better not!" _Elanor growled at him.

The bickering was interrupted for a moment as a brown owl came soaring in through the open window, shaking loose a newspaper before swooping back out, with a farewell hoot.

"Ah, the Prophet." Harry remarked. "I placed a subscription to this address yesterday, so I could keep up with the news. Well, whatever sounds like real news anyway." He added with a wry smile.

"Ah, I can't get the prophet at the orphanage, what with the non-magicals and the owls and stuff." Elanor sighed. Reaching out and picking up the paper she unfolded it with a little shake before giving a slight gasp at the headlines.

"What is it?" Harry remarked confusedly. "Ireland lose or something?"

"Uh, no." Elanor responded in slight shock. "I think you'd better read yourself." She stated, holding out the paper to him, prompting him to take it.

"Scenes of terror at the quidditch world cup…" Harry murmured. "The Dark Mark, Death Eaters and dark wizards."

"Yeah. That's something you don't see every day." He sighed.

"I thought they'd all been rounded up!" Elanor exclaimed. "I mean, they got my parents for some reason, what if they're after me too?" she gasped slightly.

"Hey cool it." Harry interrupted firmly. "I'm sure they weren't after you then, so they won't be after you now."

"Ok." She replied weakly.

"In any case, there have always been sympathisers to the Dark Lord's cause, and there is no way they could have possibly caught every Death Eater." Harry continued. "I mean, there's people like Igor Karkaroff and Severus Snape, who were confirmed Death Eaters." He added.

"Snape's a death eater!?" Elanor exclaimed.

"According to Dumbledore, he was a spy who joined them at great risk to his own safety." Harry pondered. "Of course, it was only Dumbledore's word on that, but the fact he's allowed to teach at Hogwarts means he's probably alright."

"Snape?" Elanor voiced incredulously. "The man's horrible! He treats everyone like rubbish except for his Slytherins, and apparently I'm not one of them!" she shouted.

"Well, I don't know him so…" Harry murmured. "I can't judge yet, but he sounds like a bit of a bully, in adult form anyway."

Elanor simply scoffed derisively at the tame statement.

"Anyway, can't worry about it now." He pointed out. "You should go get a shower or something, the bathroom's free, third door on the right upstairs. Towel and stuff is there."

Elanor sighed at her protesting muscles. "Yeah, I could do with one of those."

"Good, go cool off and I'll do some breakfast and stuff for when you're done." He smiled.

"Alright. Thanks Harry."

"Hey no problem. We can talk more about magic and stuff later if you'd like."

"Yeah, I'll hold you to that."

* * *

**AN 13.08.2014**

**So I revealed a whole bunch of stuff here, with Harry being a natural Legilmens and Parselmouth and so on. Elanor also found out she is a Parselmouth, but then again she is Riddle's daughter. She'll get back to Harry about the reasons she can speak parseltongue later. Next chapter will involve a few time skips, getting up to the Hogwarts express and first day or so of school for Harry. Will be interesting considering he'll be teaching Elanor a few things before she goes back as well. Isabella is almost like a precocious child with a crush on Harry. There's more there than meets the eye with how long she's been with him. That comes much later. And also, the house hasn't been explored yet, since time keeps running away from Elanor. She may find something very interesting.**

**Until next time!**


	5. Spinning Clocks

**Spinning Clocks**

* * *

"You ready?" Harry raised an eyebrow at an oddly fidgety Elanor. "We'll have to leave soon to get there on time, I think."

Looking at Harry, Elanor couldn't help but think back on the last couple of weeks she had spent getting to know her newfound friend, and his odd home life. In a way, she'd become a part of this little family of a proud owl, a vain snake, and an odd boy who seemed to be different to any other wizard she'd ever met. He didn't even act like he had magic at times, often foregoing its use in favour of manual methods. At least at first, he had been using magic every day. Though he had said he had liked piquing her interest in the different things he could do. He also said he had disliked using magic like a simple tool, when it was so much more than that.

'_Why use magic to do everyday mundane things, when you can put on a show and have fun?'_ He had said with a little grin, before conjuring a rainbow coloured Rottweiler that oinked. That had made her laugh herself silly.

But what she had enjoyed the most was learning so many new and wonderful things. Even her work with Occlumency had been intriguing she thought, remembering back when he had explained just how truly brilliant it could be.

* * *

**/**

"No Elanor." Harry frowned. "Occlumency is not that simple. What you seem to be forgetting is that the Mind Arts are far more complex than simply the ability to block mind reading, or to read minds."

"But the book mentioned defences. Why can't I imagine some sort of wall or something?" Elanor grumbled at him.

"The mind is not a simple thing." Harry replied, as though it was all he needed to say.

It wasn't.

"I know that!" Elanor exclaimed. "I just don't get how I actually defend my mind!"

"You're looking at defence from the wrong angle." Harry took pity on her frustration, opting this time to push her in the right direction. "Why, exactly would you want a wall?"

"To stop people getting in, Harry." Elanor sighed in annoyance.

"You miss the point." Harry shook his head exasperated. "You cannot just simply imagine a wall, blocking all intruders, or even some sort of guardian, like a dragon for example."

Holding out a hand to stop her from asking more questions, he continued. "Legilmens can only delve into a person's mind by looking them in the eye and performing it, either non-verbally without a wand or with the incantation. _Legilmens_ is the spell, by the way. It's why they call those that are skilled with it, Legilmens."

"The only way to stop this is either by avoiding the spell entirely, or avoiding eye-contact." He pointed out.

"If you are about to ask how you are supposed to defend when you are unable to do this, the answer is simple, but in practice difficult." Harry again forestalled her questions with a raised hand. "The most basic form of Occlumency is to clear your mind, to make it blank and empty, so that a Legilmens cannot perceive your emotions and thoughts."

"So by doing these meditation exercises, I am practicing making my mind empty of thoughts and feelings?" Elanor spoke up in slight comprehension. "So I can't just think of something like a wall?"

"Actually, you can." Harry smirked slightly at Elanor's indignant expression.

"But you just said-" she spluttered.

"I only said it wasn't as simple as that." Harry chuckled. "The point of meditation is to get you in touch with your own mind, as intimately and closely as possible."

"A Legilmens will easily be able to tell you are occluding, if you are simply hiding your thoughts and feelings. At which point, they may become more aggressive, determined to break the veil over your thoughts." Harry continued. "At that point, it becomes a struggle between your willpower and theirs. The stronger their intent and desire, the more difficult it is to defend. This is true for the Occlumens as well, as the stronger your intent to defend, the harder your mind is to break into."

"Try to understand that this battle is all taking place in the mind, for lack of a better explanation." Harry added.

"If you are fully cognizant of your own thoughts and feelings, you can show a Legilmens exactly what you want them to see, and nothing more."

"So I could show them a wall if I really wanted to, but that would show them I am occluding?" Elanor frowned questioningly.

"They would probably try to break down the wall, yes. If they are able to overcome your will, that is." Harry replied. "The mind is complicated and imagining a wall won't actually protect you as well as you think it might. You could imagine a kitten of all things and still overpower a Legilmen's will."

"The real cunning of an Occlumens is to make the Legilmens think that they are seeing what they expect to see." Harry smirked. "Advanced Occlumency is the art of showing a Legilmens only the thoughts, emotions and memories that complement what they want to see. What you are actually doing is suppressing your real thoughts, emotions and memories."

"A master can show incredibly detailed memories that are not even real, thoughts that they are not truly thinking, and any emotions that they desire associated with such things. And they do this by making even the best master of Legilmency believe that they are not even an Occlumens!" Harry grinned. "That's what defence really means. The art of deception, in other words."

Elanor blinked, speechless at the moment as she processed the explanation. "That's… incredible." She finally spoke up in slight amazement.

"Yeah, it really is." Harry replied. "If you ever need help with working on your Occlumency, a Legilmens you can trust to test you is always advisable. For now, work on understanding yourself. Meditate every night, examine your own memories. Never lie to yourself, because you need to fully understand who you are underneath everything."

"Yeah. Thanks Harry." Elanor smiled slightly. "I understand what I need to be doing now."

"Anytime."

* * *

**/**

"Yeah, just nervous about this year." Elanor eventually replied to Harry who had seemed concerned with her contemplative silence. "Just thinking back on what I've done this summer."

"Ah, I see." Harry smiled. "It's been interesting."

"Interesting, he says!" Elanor scoffed in good humour. "Some of the stuff I've learnt from you is easily more than just interesting. I feel like I've learnt some things that aren't even supposed to be possible!" she exclaimed.

"Well, blame the ministry for that one." Harry rolled his eyes, before taking hold of Elanor's trunk. "There's so much more out there than anyone ever really understands. Shame they restrict so much material."

"It's why wizards like Dumbledore, or even the Dark Lord were so powerful." Harry added. "Obviously, being prodigies, they sought to learn far more than they were ever taught. Whether it was good or bad, it was still magic beyond most people's comprehension that they were delving into."

"The way I look at it, the only limit is the mind. What you think isn't possible, you will never achieve." Harry murmured.

"Yeah, I remember you explaining about that." Elanor remarked.

* * *

**/**

"Why do you make silent casting look so damn easy?" Elanor spoke up, watching Harry cook dinner with small gestures of his wand to prepare the food. "And for that matter, you don't even seem to use any real wand motions."

Pausing a moment to ponder her question, he flicked his wand, sending a pile of freshly cut vegetables into a pan of simmering stew.

"Well, it is easy." Harry turned to look at her sitting in a chair with the Occlumency book opened in front of her.

"No it's not!" Elanor exclaimed. "How can you say that, when I find it so difficult?" she sighed despondently.

"You remember what I said about Mind Magics?" Harry frowned, settling into a chair while the stew was cooking.

"Something about it being part of every other magic, or whatever it was." Elanor prompted, shutting her book.

"Well, basically yes." Harry replied slowly. "The mind is the key to magic, I believe."

"The key to magic?"

"Yep. What do you think incantations and wand movements do?" Harry prompted her for her thoughts.

"You say the incantation along with performing the wand movements to do whatever the incantation is supposed to do." Elanor frowned. "It makes the magic do things."

"But how do you know what the incantation does?" Harry asked.

"It's written down in our textbooks. This incantation with these wand movements does this, and so on." Elanor sighed. "But from what I've read of silent casting, you think the incantation instead of saying it. Why is that so much harder?"

"Well it's obvious if you think about it carefully. You know what the incantation with the right wand movements will do, but as soon as you begin thinking of the incantation, you have to split your focus between what the magic will do, and the spell." Harry replied.

"So because we're focusing on not saying the spell, we're not focusing enough on performing it?" Elanor asked curiously.

"Yes. And have you ever wondered why mispronunciations affect your spellwork?" Harry asked with a small grin.

"Um. No?" Elanor blinked, brown eyes clouding slightly in confusion.

"It's because subconsciously you know you're saying it wrong, so you won't be able to perform the spell." Harry replied. "Or it does something entirely different, like blow up in your face." He added with a grin.

"Haven't you ever wondered why one incantation does something, while another does something else?" Harry engaged her once more.

"Because they're different." She replied dully.

"How?" Harry grinned even wider now, causing Elanor to look at him warily.

"They have different names and wand motions." Elanor responded carefully. "Isn't it obvious?"

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Harry incanted with a smirk, pointing his wand at a cup by the sink.

To Elanor's utter amazement and disbelief, the cup came soaring into his hand. "Wha-How?" she cried out. "That's not a Levitation Charm!"

"Did-wha-Was that a _summoning_ charm!?" she continued hysterically.

"Right in one!" Harry grinned exorbitantly cheerfully.

"But that's…" Elanor began feverishly before Harry cut across teasingly.

"Not possible?"

"Uh. Right. It's you. Shoulda remembered." Elanor blinked, looking at Harry oddly.

"Intent, Elanor. Intent." He smirked smugly. "I wanted to summon the cup, nothing more."

Elanor relinquished the need to smack the smug grin off his face, instead silently encouraging Harry to continue explaining.

"No matter how I wave my wand, or even what I say, all I wanted was to summon that cup into my hand." Harry explained. "My intent was to summon that cup, with that incantation."

"You would normally expect that nothing would happen, because you know that it's a Levitating Charm, but I expected that it would summon the cup." Harry added. "My desire to summon that cup overwrote everything I know about that incantation. It was not even necessary."

"So why doesn't everyone learn how to do this?" Elanor remarked dryly.

"Ah, because it's extremely dangerous, I suppose." Harry frowned. "You really have to know what you're doing if you're going to mess around like that. Even I think that what I just did was incredibly reckless, but it was to prove a point."

"Are you trying to hurt yourself or something?" Elanor hissed. "Why did you do something like that anyway?"

"I'm naturally reckless." Harry shrugged glibly.

"That's no excuse!" Elanor berated him slightly. "I don't want to see you getting hurt just to prove something to me or whatever the hell it was you were trying to do!" her voiced raised into a remonstrating shout.

"Sorry Ellie." He blinked rapidly, taken aback by her outburst. "I don't mean anything by it."

"Ellie?" Elanor curiously asked at the sudden nickname.

"Easier than saying Elanor every time, and besides friends need a nickname, or a shortened one between them at least. I could call you Ella, but that sounds way to close to Bella for me, it would get confusing." Harry explained smoothly.

"I… like it I guess." Elanor's eyes watered slightly, before she blinked and narrowed her eyes at Harry. "But don't think you're getting away with being stupid!" she rebuked him.

"Alright, alright." He raised his hands pleadingly. "I find that far too dangerous to play around with anyway."

"Good." She remarked stiffly. "You can carry on explaining again, without the stupid antics now."

"Uhm sure." Harry grinned wryly.

"So start explaining!" Elanor spoke up, prodding him in the shoulder.

"Well, the whole point of learning incantations and wand motions is to engrave it into your memory. Eventually it becomes hard-wired into your mind. The better your memory, the larger your spell repertoire." He began, absently rubbing his shoulder. "It's a form of control, developed hundreds of years ago, enabling people to have control over what their magic does."

"It's better than having your magic do whatever you wish it to do, or you may inadvertently do something disastrous." Harry pointed out. "But what I mean by intent is working with your magic on the fly. You could, with a strong enough will and desire, perform feats of magic that match nothing you've ever read in books, because you are the one enforcing your will on your magic."

"Again, it comes back to the basics of Occlumency, where you get in touch with your own mind intimately." Harry added.

"Still not sure what you mean, but you're saying that intent is what makes silent casting easier?" Elanor frowned.

"Yes and no." Harry replied, struggling to contain his grin at Elanor planting her head on the table with an irritated groan.

"You can want to block a spell, but it doesn't mean that you know how to block a spell." Harry continued. "What are you blocking it with? What does your shield look like? Is that shield strong enough?"

"If you know the answer to all those three questions, and the answer is yes, you will cast a powerful shield capable of blocking that spell, either physical or magical, depending on what you decided in the moment." Harry added. "People pull off random acts of magic all the time in response to stressful and dangerous situations though. You may never perform that particular piece of magic again. In fact, you may not even be consciously aware of what you were thinking at that moment, other than 'Help, I need a shield' or 'I don't want to be hit'"

"You're losing me very quickly." Elanor looked at him bemused.

"What I just explained was the act of performing powerful magic under mortal peril." Harry sighed. "Actually consciously attempting to recreate such feats could destroy you."

"However, take the Shield Charm, _Protego_." Harry continued ignoring Elanor's slightly queasy look. "You know what that charm is, the incantation, wand motions and everything. You have practiced it thoroughly, so that you can cast it with no hesitation."

"So when you find yourself in danger and need to block a spell, you automatically attempt to use it." Harry input. "That shield will form, because you know it will form. Maybe you don't have time to say the incantation or perform the wand movements, but you are already reacting to the situation, so the shield will form. However, it is easily possible that your reactions were not quick enough, so you get hit before you even think of shielding."

"But let's say you know more than one shield charm. _Scuto_, the Tower Shield Charm is a good example." Harry added, as Elanor propped up her head with her hands, elbows resting on the table, avidly following along. "Having learnt _Protego_ and understanding what levels and types of spells it can block, you begin learning the Tower Shield Charm. This shield blocks physical force, such as flying debris, but not magical. _Protego_ can block magical spells, but not physical force."

"So your mind has eventually ingrained both spells into your subconscious. You practice them so often, that it is second nature to cast it silently and with barely any wand motions, if any at all." Harry smiled slightly at Elanor's interest. "So you find yourself in the same dangerous situation, except there is debris flying at you from an explosion of some sort. You know two shield charms, inside and out. Subconsciously, your brain tells you to cast _Scuto_. A spell comes flying at you immediately after. Without thinking, you raise a _Protego_."

"This is the reason you learn incantations and the wand motions for spells." Harry added. "You are basically wiring your brain to perform such actions, rather than relying on random acts of magic, or attempting to do silly things like train yourself to cast a shield every time you say 'Shield'. If you're unlucky, every time someone else even mentions the word shield, you'll raise one in reflex."

"And I still haven't gotten to the point of intent." Harry sighed slightly.

"Well, it's still nice to know why we learn spells the way we do." Elanor pointed out. "We never get told why, just that it is that way."

"I suppose that's true." Harry ran a hand through his messy black hair for a moment before speaking up again. "You wanted to understand what I mean by intent though."

"I suppose I got you side-tracked." Elanor murmured. "Hey wait! That was all you!" she continued in surprise.

"Ehehehe. I suppose so." Harry grinned slightly apologetically. "Sorry Ellie."

"Anyway!" Harry clapped his hands together loudly, causing Elanor to jump slightly.

"Intent is what enables us to actually perform our spells. Sometimes it makes a spell stronger, or sometimes it only allows us to cast it." Harry began. "A summoning charm for example is one of those spells that requires a desire to have the object that you are trying to summon. You are telling yourself that you want something, but if you don't really want it, the spell will not work, or barely move the object."

"So desire is important to performing it?" Elanor queried quietly.

"Yep. I could try it until I'm blue in the face, if I don't really want something, I won't get it." Harry replied. "Simple enough yes?"

"If you don't intend to get it, you won't." Elanor nodded. "I get that."

"Also, if the object happens to be something you can't see, it becomes more difficult." Harry added.

"Because you have to think very carefully about what you're summoning." Elanor input. "If it's something you own, it's far easier, but still harder than when you can see it."

Harry nodded along at her explanation. "Right in one. It's also fair to point out that passing knowledge of an item is also applicable, but you need to know that there is such an object. You might not know everything about it, but your desire to have it allows you to summon it."

"Of course, you might summon more than you intend to." Harry added with a thoughtful look.

"Moving on though, some spells can be performed with a combination of intent and emotion." Harry started. "Casting a severing charm, _Diffindo_, for example requires only the intent to cut something, usually paper."

"To cast it on a person also requires the intent to cut." Harry added carefully. "Before you ask, if you don't intend them harm, it will not do much damage, except perhaps breaking a bit of skin. The nature of the spell is to cut, regardless of the target. There is a reason the books tell you to use it with caution."

"But where things get different, is with the emotions you feel." Harry continued. "If the person you cast a _Diffindo_ at is someone who hurt you, made you angry or something, you would feel angry at them, perhaps angry enough to want to hurt them."

"At which point you might throw out a severing charm which is capable of taking off limbs or at least causing large cuts." Harry ended with a grim look, causing Elanor to shudder. "But of course, hitting someone in the throat with even a weak one out of anger could kill them."

"There is a lot of magic out there that can be used for simple purposes, but are easily twisted by a person's intent." Harry sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, before shaking his head and looking at Elanor firmly. "Master your mind, lest your emotions hold you hostage."

"It's why the Dark Arts are so volatile. The lure of power, the desire to control, to warp and twist, to cause pain, to revel in the enjoyment of it, they can ruin you." Harry murmured. "It's why the Dark Lord and his followers seemed so terrifying and inhuman."

"Is it any wonder that Dark magic is feared?" Harry queried rhetorically to the air. "Of course, almost all magic can be twisted to suit the user's purpose. The fire-making spell can be used to burn people, the Memory Charm can make people practically vegetables, The Reductor curse can disintegrate people and the Freezing Spell can turn people into popsicles and so on."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Elanor asked him nervously.

"Because it is important." Harry replied. "Intent is extremely important. Do you want to set something alight, or do you want to make it _burn?_" Harry voiced darkly. "Do you want to remove an obstacle, or blow apart an enemy?"

"There is an extremely important distinction between what a spell is supposed to be used for, and what you intend to do with it." Harry ended.

"So I need to be in control?" Elanor inquired. "Do what I intend to do and nothing more?"

"It's easier said than done Ellie." Harry sighed. "Just understand that intent is the key to magic. Train yourself in such a way that you only ever do what you intend to do, otherwise you may do something you regret."

"That was more serious than I thought it would be." Elanor voiced quietly.

"Yeah, well you don't want to become a Dark Lady now I hope?" Harry inquired with a small grin.

"Oh shut up."

* * *

**/**

"Well come on, your Dark Lady is waiting to leave." Elanor smirked at Harry teasingly.

"I'm already regretting ever mentioning that to you Ellie." Harry sighed in vexation.

"Don't be daft, think of the perks of being a Dark Lady's best friend." Elanor giggled. "Actually now that I think about it, are there any perks?"

"None that come to mind." Harry remarked dryly, shutting the front door behind them. "If I was a masochist maybe I'd enjoy it." He added slickly, causing Elanor to stifle a giggle.

"Guess my brain's not wired that way hm?" he remarked casually.

"I couldn't imagine you being a Dark Lord, I suppose." Elanor frowned, as they walked down the street together. "You seem far too nice for that." She thought to herself though, that Harry would be a devastating Dark Lord if he ever felt inclined to be. Though, she didn't think he was all that good either, he seemed fairly neutral on the topic of magic. Hidden under that pleasant veneer though, was a dark streak that had been unearthed for a few scant moments during their conversations. It was a slightly frightening thought, having heard his knowledge of dark magic, seemingly as though he understood it intimately. Reading about it just wouldn't give him the same level of understanding as he appeared to have.

At least she was certain that he would treat it like he did his Legilmency. Use only under certain circumstances if he ever actually allowed himself the option. She fully understood that even he might want to make someone hurt sometimes, heck, even she had those thoughts occasionally. He seemed to place a lot of importance on thinking before acting, but he had admitted he was prone to bouts of recklessness at times.

"If you say so." Harry responded softly. "Just remember, I am capable of hurting people if I want to."

"So is everyone." Elanor replied quickly. "Everyone can choose to cause pain and suffering if they ever wanted to. Even me, I have to admit."

"True." Harry replied, before they settled into a companionable silence while walking towards Kings Cross Station.

* * *

**/**

"Where is Bella by the way?" Elanor looked at Harry who was walking on her right side, by the edge of the pavement. "I haven't seen her today."

"With me, actually." Harry remarked with a raised eyebrow. "I confined her to a magical tattoo of sorts."

"A magical tattoo?" Elanor inquired.

"Yep. I'll show you the tattoo later, but I can call her out if I need her." Harry replied. "It's like a special kind of stasis, but she can still unconsciously perceive basic things like danger, and will come out in that case."

"And Hedwig?" Elanor asked curiously.

"I sent her on ahead." Harry smiled tenderly. "She's a very smart owl, so she'll be there soon enough. Probably stake a claim on the best spot in the Owlery, and I pity the other owls who dare to contradict her." He mock shuddered.

"She does seem to be a very proud one." Elanor added thoughtfully.

"Yeah, she's got a lot to be proud of." Harry replied. "I don't know fully how she does it, but she always finds me wherever I am, even through wards that are supposed to ward owls away."

"Wouldn't trade her for any other owl in the world." Harry smiled brightly. "Reminds me that I'd forgotten to tell you that if ever needed to owl someone, Hedwig would be happy to go. I don't use her as often as she would like me to."

"If I ever need to, I guess." Elanor replied sighing glumly.

"Ah, I'm sure you'll have to use her at some point." Harry shrugged. "Hey, she'll probably even visit you from time to time."

"So long as she doesn't steal _my_ bacon, that's alright." Elanor firmly declared.

"Don't worry about that. For some reason she'll only take bacon away from me." Harry pouted slightly.

"Good." She nodded her head mocking him slightly, causing Harry to grimace. Though he felt it was at least a good thing she was more open to bantering with him than she was at first. He just knew he was good at getting under people's skin.

"Though…" Elanor began before trailing off, as they headed towards the dividing wall between Platforms Nine and Ten, having entered Kings Cross a few moments ago.

"What?" Harry turned his head towards her curiously.

"I can't believe I'd forgotten to ask you about this." Elanor shook her head slightly at her oversight. "Well, do you remember me telling you about that ponce Lockhart from my second year?"

"The ponce, yep." Harry nodded along. "Worst teacher ever you said? Couldn't even use a wand right?"

"That's the one." Elanor agreed. "Well, he ran a stupid duelling club, to help teach us to defend ourselves from that monster or whatever it was."

"Doesn't sound like much use to me." Harry murmured.

"He wasn't, no." Elanor agreed. "But Snape seemed to know what he was doing, and floored him with a disarming charm. That got a round of laughs of course."

"Your point?" Harry sighed, as they drew closer to the barrier, causing Elanor to stop for a moment.

"I was just wondering, considering you know so much about several obscure bits of magic, whether you knew how to duel." Elanor voiced carefully.

"Somewhat yes." Harry responded oddly. "It depends what you mean by duelling."

"Well, how to defend yourself for one." Elanor pointed out. "I want to learn how to defend myself better."

At this, Harry scowled slightly. "I wonder why." He muttered vehemently.

"Don't do that." Elanor nudged him. "I don't care about them."

"Still, people shouldn't treat others like that." Harry pointed out. "I'd rather you not need to defend yourself."

"And I'd like to know how to, even if I don't need to." She returned firmly.

"Fine, I can teach you how to defend yourself." Harry acquiesced to her. "Magical combat is what I'm best at, actually."

"Really?" Elanor blinked curiously.

"Yep. I'm pretty sure if you wanted to, I could teach you to beat anyone with First Year spells." Harry replied. "At the very least, I'll let you practice against me. Experience is important too."

"Good." Elanor smiled brightly. "I would enjoy that."

"If you say so." He replied with a smirk. "You might regret it."

"I doubt it." She responded dangerously sweetly. "I know you would rather I still talk to you, than not."

"You wouldn't." Harry mock gasped.

"I would." Elanor nodded firmly.

"We'll talk about this more on the train, in private." Harry pointed out. "Besides, we should go through the barrier now."

"Alright. Meet you on the other side!" she exclaimed, before turning and dashing through with a lilting chuckle, leaving Harry shaking his head wryly.

"I'm the one with her trunk…" he grumbled. "Bothersome girl."

And with that, he strolled through the barrier in search of Dark Lady Ellie.

* * *

**AN 15.08.2014**

**Simple enough chapter. I wrote a fair bit on the basics of magic in this chapter, but now that those parts are out of the way, you'll be seeing less in detail explanations. I decided to do the explanations through character interactions so as to not dump it out as background info. Though there will be occasional titbits here and there, there won't be hoards of texts devoted to the 'science behind magic' and stuff like that. I did not go with the fan version of Occlumency, because I feel it's too fanciful and detracts from what HP magic really is. Some versions are stupid, like somehow giving you perfect recall, backup memories, password keys and random crap like animal guardians that attack intruders(Like what the hell is that meant to be for?). This is traditional Occlumency, because it suits the universe I'm writing anyway. **

**I also added the intent part, and the explanation on training the mind thing, for more logically inclined readers out there, while keeping it simple enough for readers who just want to see the magic, as it were. However, I did intentionally make it sound slightly confusing at first – keep in mind its one character teaching another – in this case Elanor plays the part of the audience too. That's you guys.**

**It gives us a great building block for so much more complex and wonderful magic later on. I won't even need to have in-universe explanations for certain spells and so on now, you should be able to quickly understand how and why a spell works if I happen to use one, amongst other things. I even laid out a small explanation as to why Dumbledore and Voldemort seem to use magic on an entirely different level to any other with magic. More on that in future chapters though.**

**Next chapter will be the train ride, sorting, and the first night and beginning of lessons. We will finally be introducing a bunch of other characters, and seeing Hogwarts of this universe as I see it.**

**Slow beginning is over with, and I laid the groundwork for far more later on the story. Be happy!**

**Until next time!**


	6. Slithering Thoughts

**Slithering Thoughts**

* * *

"What's gotten you so excited all of a sudden?" Harry voiced to the grinning girl who had been waiting for him on the other side of the barrier.

"Not sure." Elanor replied with a thoughtful frown. "Think I'm just excited for this year. It feels like my first year again." At this, Elanor's eyes darkened slightly, before she shook her head slightly, blinking away the slight melancholy she seemed to be feeling.

"Just waiting to see where it all goes wrong, I guess." Elanor added with a grim smile.

"You got a self-certified problem fixer here." Harry drawled lightly. "I'd stake my reputation on being able to ease all worries and manner of shenanigans, or I'm not Harry Potter."

Elanor simply looked at him blankly for a moment before shaking her head and turning around. "Come on, we have to find a compartment." She called out as she walked away, leaving a confused Harry behind, gaping at her.

Quickly getting sense of his bearings, he scanned the platform, which was rather busy at the moment, parents and children bustling around, meeting old friends and the like. It was rather noisy, but Harry couldn't help but smile slightly as he saw several kids who appeared to be upcoming first years, grinning as they hopped on the scarlet steam train. He only took a moment more, before shaking himself out of his contemplative state, hefting Elanor's trunk with surprising ease, onto the luggage carriage and chasing after her.

Catching up to her, he grumbled slightly. "You could be more patient you know."

Elanor could only look at him with slightly nervous brown eyes. "Well I'd rather avoid as many people as I can."

"Sorry for leaving you behind so quickly though." She added.

"Just stop worrying about stuff. If anything it's me that should be nervous, it's my first year here after all." Harry pointed out, green eyes softening slightly.

"Alright. I'll try." Elanor replied with a small frown, before Harry poked her in the forehead.

"Do stop that." Harry murmured with a small smirk. "We have to find a compartment right?"

Growling slightly at his nerve, she simply scowled in reply.

* * *

**/**

Smoothly making their way towards the end of the train, some people gave the pair curious glances, mainly because one of them was a boy they hadn't seen before, and even stranger, he was in the company of Riddle, who had a reputation of being dark. Elanor couldn't help the slight nervous twitches as more people paid notice to them, while Harry seemed perfectly content to just follow her, oblivious to everything else. It wasn't as if he needed to say hello to everyone he saw, it wasn't his obligation to introduce himself.

Finally reaching an empty compartment in the end carriage, she breathed an audible sigh of relief, as Harry slunk in behind her, absently shutting the door and locking it.

"Thanks." She sighed. "I don't think I could deal with people coming round to say hello to the new guy. Let alone what else I expect them to say of course." She visibly slumped in her seat, eyes downcast slightly.

Nudging her shoulder with his own, Harry grabbed her attention as he parked himself next to her on the seat. "Words often hurt." He admitted. "Eventually, I'm sure you'll not let it get to you."

"Well, I usually ignore what they say. They never see it affect me." Elanor murmured, eyes darkening slightly. "It's Slytherin house after all. Showing signs of weakness would…"

"Seems more like a house of vultures when you put it that way." Harry input with a small smirk. "How noble of them." He added with biting sarcasm.

At this, Elanor gave him a strained smile, putting on a brave face.

"Hey now. I might be trying to cheer you up, but it doesn't mean you have to fake it." Harry sighed. "If you're unhappy, you're unhappy. Remember what I said about lying to yourself."

"I get it." She replied in a small voice.

"Lying to others is a whole different thing." Harry spoke up, trying to draw her out of her funk. "Ever so easy isn't it?"

"True." Elanor murmured, closing her eyes in the moment. "I just don't know how to react to things like this. It's hard, when everyone you know doesn't really care, and especially hard if you delude yourself into thinking someone does."

"Someone always cares. Whether it's on a personal level, is another thing." Harry replied, giving her a quick squeeze on the arm. "Since I'm calling you my friend, it's my job to care. Wouldn't want to disappoint you if I failed in that regard."

"You're only hanging around with me because I'm the only person you know around here." Elanor told him.

"That's a problem how?" Harry grinned, causing Elanor to blink in shock.

"People end up friends for the daftest of things sometimes." Harry pointed out to her surprised look. "Only thing that matters is what is, and not what might have been."

"Though people will always think of what was, and what could be, what is, is the most important thing." Harry soothingly spoke. "I live in the present, but I will always think of what once was, and what could be. I can only hope that what happens right now, is all that truly matters to me."

"You can live for the future, at the cost of the now, or live for now, and deal with whatever comes as best as you can." Harry ended with a smooth smile.

"Don't you think so Ellie?" he turned his head to her with a lopsided grin. "I don't care for money, power, or even fair weather friends. I am content to live for now."

"You're a ridiculously optimistic git." Elanor grumbled. "It's so damn hard not to keep pitying myself when you're there with a lecture every single time I do it."

"Good!" Harry exclaimed cheerfully. "The monkey training is working!"

"You what!?" Elanor looked at him with narrowed eyes and crossed arms. "I am not some animal you can train!"

"I know." Harry grinned unrepentantly. "Still, I am training you to think, aren't I?"

Elanor simply huffed in reply.

"Which is why I'm surprised that you haven't realised that I've shared a few secrets with you. I wouldn't do that if I wasn't invested in some manner." Harry pointed out logically. "I can only honestly say, I enjoy your company, more than keeping my secrets to myself." _Though I wish someone could know them all. _

"Yeah, but aren't you good with Memory Charms or something?" Elanor replied smoothly. "That doesn't mean anything to me."

At this, Harry's eyes seemed to dim slightly. "You still don't trust me?"

"Eventually maybe. I don't fully trust you yet." Elanor replied after a moment's thought. "I don't trust anyone. But I'm trying to."

"Just don't break that bit of trust Harry." Elanor remarked gloomily. "I don't think I could deal with it."

At this, Harry flinched imperceptibly. "I won't." he replied coolly.

"Good." Elanor sighed in slight relief, before pulling out a book on Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Harry simply laid his head back, shutting his eyes as he tamed his racing thoughts. He was tired, and needed to take his mind off the upcoming events. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered just what his old friend was doing now and whether she'd find him again. Then again, he realised that was an impossibility at present. It was broken after all.

* * *

**/**

Elanor was engrossed in her book, steadfastly ignoring Harry's sleeping head on her shoulder. She had briefly entertained the thought of waking him up to get him to move, but couldn't bear to wipe the peaceful look off his face. It was an odd thing, but during Occlumency training, she had learnt to identify emotions with far more clarity. Having learnt a few of Harry's emotions and the way they affected his facial expressions, or even the look in his eyes, she had always struggled to figure out just what his natural expression would be like.

She had realised very early on, that he put on an act nearly all the time. There were the rare moments he let it slip when talking about certain topics, though she was unsure how some of them even affected him. And now she seemed to have come to a conclusion. He was tired.

And no, not just tired as in wanting to sleep. It seemed to be as though he were so very tired, that it seeped into his bones. He seemed to want nothing more than to drift away into the land of dreams at times. He was weary. Sometimes, Elanor traitorously thought he was sick of life in general, though she never gave voice to it. In any case, he seemed to be soldiering on, for some cause or desire he had left unfulfilled. Searching for peace perhaps.

Elanor thought she understood this feeling, but she started to think she didn't really, when catching Harry's unguarded moments. It wasn't as if he was purposeless in life, it was simply that whatever it was, completely evaded her. But at least, his dogged determination to continue on with his goal, whatever it was, and no matter how he felt about it, inspired her. She shouldn't give up on what she wants out of life, so soon. She should fight tooth and nail for everything she was due.

After all if Harry wouldn't give up, why should she?

Her book now lay in her lap, forgotten as she came to this conclusion, before a sharp knock on the compartment door startled her out of her musing, causing her to jolt slightly, and Harry to murmur unintelligibly in his sleep for the moment.

Frowning she considered her options. She could ignore it or open the door for whoever it was. The train wasn't ready to leave just yet, since they had arrived early on the platform, so it was probably someone trying to find a last minute seat before the train departed. Scowling slightly, before smoothing her expression over into the blank one she always showed to others at Hogwarts, she flicked her wand at the door, feeling a sense of pride as the silent unlocking spell did it's work, the door making a clicking sound, before it was pulled open, and a head poked in.

"Thank you. Do you mind if we sit here?" the feminine voice called out, causing Elanor to look at her for a scant moment, recognising the silky blonde tresses, emotionless façade and icy blue eyes. Daphne Greengrass, a member of Slytherin in the same year as her. Standing behind her was her sister, who was a second year Slytherin now, she remembered, with brown hair and blue eyes, but with a more mischievous air about her, rather than the cold and well known 'Ice-Queen' persona that Daphne presented.

"If you have to." Elanor replied coolly, wanting nothing more than to say no, and to leave her and Harry in peace, but alas not wanting to act out of character.

Daphne paused slightly at the sight in front of her, the sleeping boy with his head resting on her shoulder, before she simply replied monotonously. "Thank you Riddle." and then proceeded to sit opposite her, steadfastly ignoring the view, even while her sister kept her eyes glued to the sleeping boy.

The compartment settled into awkward silence for a few minutes, after Astoria had shut the door behind her and the train had finally set off with a blaring of its horn, before she finally blurted out what she had been dying to say.

"Who's the cute boy?" she looked wide-eyed at Elanor with a slight tint of red in her cheeks, causing Elanor to cough in slight shock, and Daphne to frown subtly at her sister.

Charging on ahead though, Astoria continued rambling. "He seems new. I mean, I've never seen him before, and I think I would definitely rememb… er wha…." She blushed this time, as Elanor looked at her oddly, followed by her sister's almost inaudible sigh. "Um… him." She ended shyly.

"Do refrain from such outbursts Astoria." Daphne finally spoke up with a slightly stern tone, locking eyes with her sister. "It's rude."

At this, Astoria simply rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, not all of us want to act all prim and proper all the time Daphne!" Elanor watched the conversation with rapt attention, unconsciously paying attention to all the quirks each sister seemed to have. Normally in this situation she would ignore them entirely, and they would probably ignore her, but she had been learning to read people by body language and so on, in place of Legilmency, to supplement her Occulmency.

"Astoria." Daphne's voice cracked slightly in annoyance. "You know what's expected-"

"To hell with expectations!" Astoria exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air staring up at her sister. "I'm twelve! Not bloody fifty!"

"Why the hell do things always come down to societal niceties and money, power and all manner of stupid things!?" Astoria continued on, ranting slightly. "I mean, for Merlin's sake Daphne! What the hell happened to you!?"

Daphne could only look on at her impassively, but her sister knew she'd hit the mark from the look in her eyes. While her face remained as stoic as ever, her eyes showed the slight glimmer of hurt, but Astoria forcefully ignored that for the moment. "I miss my sister. I don't know who you are, but you're not her."

At this, Daphne looked away slightly, not wanting to show Astoria, and Riddle especially, how much that had really hurt. She couldn't afford to let strangers see her as anything less than a strong, young woman.

"Look, that's enough." Elanor finally cut in, having found her courage. She looked at them both sternly before firmly speaking. "If you're going to make a racket, do it elsewhere, away from me. I don't have to let you stay here, and I won't put up with that rubbish."

As Daphne looked at her, still impassively, but with a slightly curious air, and Astoria glanced away in slight embarrassment, Elanor sighed. "I'm pretty certain you have friends you can go join instead. Why you had to come here is beyond me."

Daphne could only think that Riddle was seemingly rather more forceful this year, whereas she rarely seemed to speak to anyone or spend any time around people, she had always seemed weak. Daphne didn't honestly care one way or the other about how she was treated, mainly because she was a firm believer that you deal with your own problems. Now though, there seemed to be a little more fire in her eyes this time around, and this intrigued her. People changed all the time, but obviously, there was a reason for hers. That boy next to her was most probably the reason. And she unfortunately couldn't help but admit he was rather fetching, though she certainly didn't care for such trivial things. But it was interesting. Why was he with Riddle? And she definitely seemed comfortable in his presence, if not more bold.

She was a Slytherin though. She could be patient, and wait for her answers. Besides, Astoria was already dead set on doing the leg work here. Why not take advantage of the opportunity, without showing her interest in the new boy?

"My apologies. We won't disturb you." Daphne replied smoothly, along with a half-hearted nod from Astoria. "We merely spend time with each other on the train ride here and back. If there was another compartment we could go to, we would not have disturbed you here."

Elanor simply gazed at them with some undecipherable emotion before nodding gently, taking care not to knock the boy's head of her shoulder. "Good." She said, before casting her gaze back to her book that had laid forgotten.

With that, Daphne took out one of her own, sitting back and waiting for Astoria's impatience to finally boil over. It was ever so easy that way.

* * *

**/**

Finally, almost an hour later, Astoria gave in to the impulse, before leaning forward and giving Harry a sharp poke in the ribs, causing him to jerk awake in shock, and Elanor to fumble her book at the unexpected movement.

"Wha-!" Harry blinked blearily for a moment, before his green eyes zeroed in on the offender. A short girl, perhaps a year or two younger than him, with straight brown hair and mischievous eyes was staring at him with a slight red tinge of embarrassment, which turned into a slight squeak of worry as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You." He voiced coldly, causing her to babble her apologies, even while Elanor watched on, with faint amusement. The blonde haired, blue eyed girl opposite her had raised an eyebrow slightly, and was watching, evidently with an air of apparent disinterest.

"O-oh, m-merlin I'm so sorry!" Astoria squeaked slightly, as Harry leaned his head forward, gaze drilling into her, and causing her to fall silent immediately.

"Thank you for the compliment." Harry suddenly grinned, causing her cheeks to heat up at his proximity while feeling slightly bewildered as to how she had actually complimented him.

"C-Compliment?" she voiced quietly, with an air of confusion, while Elanor and Daphne simply looked on, having already understood what he meant.

"I know." Harry raised a hand as he leaned back for a moment. "I admit it's nice when they say Oh Merlin, bu- OOF!" he started to talk with a slightly mischievous smirk, before Elanor hastily elbowed him in his other set of ribs, cutting off what was likely to be a rather raunchy joke, as she already knew he was prone to do.

"Alright!" he raised his hands pleadingly. "I won't say it!" he turned to Elanor with his green eyes, before looking back at Astoria, who looked dumbstruck at the moment, before colour suddenly rose up her cheeks, having just realised what he may have been about to inflict on her innocent mind. Well, she could freely admit that she wasn't all that innocent, but still, jokes between friends were one thing, but a complete stranger, who had the _dreamiest eyes she'd ever seen…_

She blinked rapidly for a moment, before noticing the slightly concerned look on his face, the slightly flushed one of Riddle's and the ghost of a smile that crossed her sister's for a fleeting moment, and her thoughts quickly went back on track, but not before being noticed by her companions in the compartment.

"Back with us eh?" the boy spoke up once more, all trace of teasing gone from his tone this time, allowing Astoria to collect herself. "I should probably restrain myself more often." He murmured to himself, though it was still caught by everyone in the compartment.

"Care to explain why you woke me from my blissful slumber?" Harry queried her in honest curiosity. "I was having such a nice dream after all." He added, causing Elanor's eyes to narrow beside him, elbow poking him slightly in warning.

"In all honesty though, I hate being woken up." He grumbled, before sighing slightly, and slumping back in his seat.

Astoria's mind set to work rapidly as she tried to find the words to say, before eventually even she could not wait for her brain to keep up with her mouth, as she blurted out her question. "Who are you?"

"I-I mean, I-we've never seen you before." Astoria continued, hastily adding Daphne into the firing line as it were, causing Daphne to frown subtly.

"Curiosity then?" Harry asked her rhetorically, running a hand through his messy black hair. "I don't suppose you could have waited for me to wake up, or ask Elanor?"

At this, Astoria gaped slightly. "Uh… Didn't think of that!" she replied, forcing a small grin, and Elanor to huff slightly. As if she would spoil Harry's fun by introducing him herself. She knew he liked making certain impressions on people, and she certainly knew what kind of impression he had made on that silly girl, who obviously found him attractive. It was a shame she was naïve to how Harry actually behaved sometimes.

"Obviously." Harry voiced dryly, causing Astoria to flush in further embarrassment. "Well, there's something you should be doing right about now, yes?" he continued, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"Oh? Oh!" Astoria exclaimed, as she realised what she meant. "I'm Astoria Greengrass, and that's my sister Daphne." She spoke smoothly, pointing to her sister negligently as she did so.

Judging by the slight twitch of Daphne's eye, Harry assumed that she had wished to introduce herself, probably part of some stodgy old Pureblood custom, but Harry grinned internally at the fact that Astoria didn't seem to buy into that kind of thing, evidenced by… well everything she'd actually done so far.

"Pleased to meet you Miss Greengrass, and uhm… Miss Greengrass." Harry winced slightly at what he had just said before steadfastly ignoring the stupidity of it. "My name's Potter… Harry Potter." He added with a lopsided smirk, causing Elanor to groan in exasperation.

"Nice to meet you…" Astoria began before trailing off, causing Harry to solve her dilemma for her.

"Harry. That'll do fine." He replied with a nod.

"Nice to meet you Harry!" she returned cheerfully.

"Well it's nice to make your acquaintance uhm…" Harry copied Astoria's previous dilemma, hoping she would repeat the courtesy.

"Astoria." She replied.

"Naah." Harry waved it off. "Too long for me to keep calling you. Hmm, how about Tori?" he remarked almost casually, causing Astoria to blink in surprise.

"That would be nice." She voiced almost shyly, remembering when her sister referred to her by that name, though she rarely acted as informal these days, merely saying her first name.

"Alright!" Harry smiled, face lighting up slightly. "So Tori, what do you want to know?" he asked, causing Astoria eye's to light up in good cheer, but he noticed Daphne's strangled gasp at having done so. It seemed her little act wasn't as perfect as she would like it to be.

"So Harry, tell me why you're here? I mean, you've not been to Hogwarts before." Astoria prompted him, tilting her head to the side cutely as she did so.

"I am here to go to school." He returned with mock-confusion, causing Astoria to grumble, already having forgotten her shyness, and instead launching into more chatter.

"I know that silly!" she giggled slightly. "I mean, you've obviously come for a reason. What year are you going in? Where did you learn before? Where did you meet Riddle? Is she your friend? Do you have a pet? Familiar? What house do you think you'll be in? And-"

"Whoa!" Harry chuckled wryly, interrupting her stream of questions, as she fought to get her breath back, flushing slightly, realising she'd let her mouth run away with her again. "I get it!"

Elanor could only look at the girl slightly dumbfounded, while Daphne seemed to be perfectly at ease, obviously having experience with her sister's antics.

"Perhaps you should let him tell you about himself. I am sure he does not need endless prompting." Daphne spoke up in a cool voice. "It is obvious he intends to, at some point." She added, looking Harry in the eye for a moment, before turning away from his gaze. It had felt like she was suddenly being assessed thoroughly as their eyes crossed, which had caused her pause for a moment.

"Ok. So tell me about yourself Harry." Astoria finally spoke up with a small grin.

"Ah well." Harry pondered for a moment, while taking a small glance at Elanor, who seemed content to absorb herself back into her book. "Well, I'm fourteen, I have an owl, I was home-tutored before, I'll be in fourth year, and I love treacle tart." He replied, giving a satisfied nod at his answer, and causing Astoria to roll her eyes at him.

"You're an incorrigible tease aren't you?" she remarked softly.

"Unfortunately." Elanor remarked dryly as she read her book. "Stop messing around with the girl, Harry." She added without sparing him a glance.

"Alright." Harry sighed. "Well, it's not exactly a crazy story or anything, but I'm a fourteen year old emancipated minor." He said simply, correctly guessing that Astoria and Daphne would understand what that meant.

"Oh." Astoria grimaced slightly. "Sorry."

"Ah, don't worry about it." Harry waved a hand negligently. "In any case, I live on my own in London, near the Leaky Cauldron actually, with my owl Hedwig. She's a nice owl, if a little vicious when it comes to bacon."

"I was home tutored for several years, outside of Britain, or I would have come to Hogwarts at eleven." Harry continued. "I actually only came back to Britain this summer, buying a place to live in London."

"I could probably continue to hire out tutors myself, but I decided I'd be better off going to Hogwarts and meeting people around my age." He added. "Besides, it's supposed to be a good school anyway, even if it's a boarding school."

"So, what's your story?" Harry queried her.

"My turn huh?"

"Yep."

* * *

**/**

Having gotten Astoria engaged in a conversation, he had learnt quite a few things about the Greengrasses, and though they might not have realised, he had carefully constructed a set of mental notes about how each sister behaved. He considered himself a good judge of a person, and there were a few things there that he found interesting. Astoria was refreshingly easy to understand, while Daphne, who had opted to not even involve herself in the conversation, was more difficult. Harry thought he'd come to a good set of conclusions about her though, which he would probably share with Elanor later.

Several hours had passed, with each person in the compartment having settled into various activities, Astoria randomly sketching things in her notebook, while Elanor and Daphne revisited their school books. And Harry, had yet again dozed off, this time resting his head against a wall, not wanting to make Elanor uncomfortable.

He had woken partway through to grab a chocolate frog off the trolley when the lady had passed by, sharing a few pumpkin pasties with Astoria and Elanor before going back to his nap, while Daphne seemed content to skip out on it.

"It's about time everyone got changed into their school robes. We'll be there in about fifteen minutes." Daphne informed them smoothly, leaving Elanor to nudge Harry awake.

"You need to get changed into your robes." Elanor murmured as he opened his eyes, slightly disgruntled.

"Hmm, ok." He replied, before pulling out his robes from his pocket, and stripping off his clothing, leaving him in just his boxers. He quickly pulled his robes on, and adjusted his tie, before turning to look at the girls. "This alright?"

"It was better before." Astoria squeaked, red-faced as she tried to avert her gaze from Harry. This caused Harry to frown slightly. "Oh."

"I hope you aren't expecting us to return the favour, Potter." Daphne voiced coolly, though she couldn't help the slight tinge of pink that had hit her. After all, he had stripped down right in front of them, without a second thought. And she certainly knew he was very fetching, and couldn't help but allowing her gaze to linger on where his toned muscles had been on full display. He was remarkably lithe, yet powerfully built and well put together.

Elanor had blinked at the sight, flushing pink as well, but astutely ignored it to the best of her ability, doing her best to clear her mind of emotion. If that was a way of testing her meditation, she felt it was a test she failed dismally. She realised though, he was just lacking in proper social niceties at some times.

"Ah, of course not." Harry smiled genially, before stepping outside and shutting the door behind him, leaving an awkward silence, yet again interrupted by Astoria.

"I think I'm in love Daphne." She stared at the door he had just gone through with a dreamy expression. The dual strangled chokes of horror that came afterwards made her whole day just that much sweeter.

* * *

**/**

Stepping off the train with Elanor, followed by Astoria and Daphne, who quickly said their farewells as they went to get a carriage with their friends, Harry looked at the stone castle of Hogwarts, towering into the skyline above Hogsmeade. Tall, proud… dark and secretive. Harry frowned slightly at that impression, but judged it to be an outward deterrent to enemies, a throwback from medieval times. In the night sky amidst the twinkling stars, it stood as a powerful sign of Wizardkind.

"You'll get used to it." Elanor murmured from by his side. "When I first came here at eleven, it was awe-inspiring." She sighed in remembrance. "It's easy to forget just how powerful a symbol this castle is."

"Come on." She nudged him lightly, glancing around her as she did so. "We should find a carriage."

Tearing his eyes away from the castle, the slight chill Harry felt made him wary. He eventually returned a reply to Elanor though she picked up on his distant tone. "Yes. We should."

He barely spared a glance at the Thestrals pulling the carriages, the skeleton like, bat-winged horses that had a taste for meat and were visible only to those who had witnessed death and fully understood the concept.

As he sat quietly in the carriage, Elanor casting him a worried look for a moment before he blinked and returned a smile, indicating he was ok, and merely lost in thought, they crossed the wards. Immediately, Harry fought the urge to shudder, as the sickly sensation of sludge rolled into his head, though Elanor failed to notice such a thing.

The moment passed though, as he forcefully pulled all of his determination into destroying the intruder. A few moments of silent struggle later, he thought he could almost hear a broken wail of what seemed to be a woman, and the slightly dark tone of an old man's voice, before he subdued the tendril of magic in his mind. Whoever or whatever did this, did not need informing he had broken free. Let them think they had succeeded, and when he discovered what this was, heads would roll.

He chanced a small peek at Elanor's mind, silently praying for forgiveness, locking gazes with her for a fleeting moment. She was unable to tell what he was doing, simply because she wasn't experienced enough with Occluding, but he thankfully found nothing of the sort affecting her, as it had him.

* * *

**/**

A short while later, they reached the castle, Harry parting ways with Elanor for the moment, as he waited for the arrival of the first years, and Professor McGonagall, who was supposed to escort both him and them to the Sorting Ceremony. Catching sight of Hagrid, the half-giant gamekeeper leading the first years up to the door, he slipped in amongst them, as he knocked loudly on the doors, which were swiftly opened to reveal a stern faced woman wearing a fine witch's hat.

Casting her gaze over them, she thanked Hagrid for bringing them, this time without any mishaps such as children falling out of boats, before her eyes lingered on Harry.

Giving them a small speech about how their house was their family, having brought them into the antechamber, just before the doors to the great hall, she advised they smartened themselves up, before ushering Harry over to the side.

"Mr Potter, I presume?" she asked him.

"Yes professor." He returned smoothly.

"Good. Well, you'll be sorted after the first years. It's not every year that we get a transfer student in, and Headmaster Dumbledore… wants to help you make a good impression, it seems." She voiced slightly distastefully at Dumbledore's seeming eccentricity. "You'll start class with the rest of your year-mates, but feel free to see your head of house, or me, if you find you are behind the rest of the students."

"Of course professor." Harry replied with a small nod, eyes drinking in the flickering candles and slightly nervous first years.

"Form a line now children!" McGonagall called out firmly, causing the first years to scramble slightly as they lined up, while Harry placed himself at the rear, knowing he would be last to be sorted anyway.

"Good!" McGonagall remarked, as she turned to lead them into the hall, stopping the students just before the dais where a ratty old hat was placed on a wooden stool. As Harry was bringing up the rear, quite a few students looked surprised to see someone obviously older than a first year there. Some remembered seeing him on the train and began whispering amongst each other to see if anyone knew who he was.

Harry chanced a small glance at the Slytherin table, where he saw Elanor sat on the end nearest to the teachers, with a stoic look, ignoring the slightly disdainful looks she was getting from other people. Though this made Harry slightly angry, there wasn't anything he could do about it right now. He also noticed Tori, who seemed to be staring at him raptly, causing him to feel slightly uncomfortable and slightly regretting teasing her. It wasn't as if he knew how she'd react to him. He was being stared at by a lot of people, but she seemed to be practically drooling over him. This was a lesson to be learnt, he told himself harshly.

On his other side, he could see what was unmistakeably the Boy-Who-Lived, Neville Longbottom. He seemed to hold himself with quiet strength, despite most of the unsorted first years whispering about him. Clear as day on his forehead was a lightning bolt scar, from where he had allegedly been hit by the Killing Curse, though how that was the conclusion people had come to, Harry was unsure.

Finally the clamour died down, as a rip opened in the hat, by the brim, and it began to sing.

It turned out that it wasn't a bad singer, though perhaps a boring one. Maybe it didn't have any inspiration this year? At least it got the basic values of each house across, and wowed the muggleborns, Harry thought amusedly.

Eventually having completed the obligatory tradition, Professor McGonagall called up the students one by one, as the Sorting Hat belted out which house they were going to for each student that wore it. As the last student was sorted, Harry pre-emptively made his way to stand by McGonagall, as the old Headmaster rose to his feet, wearing a horrifically sparkly set of robes with terribly clashing colours. It was topped off with a lurid pink hat, and his half-moon spectacles made him look utterly insane. Eccentric was the politically correct word, but Harry preferred his opinion on this one.

"Ah congratulations all!" his eyes twinkled as he spoke, smiling widely at the students. "But that's not all. Of course you may be wondering who this young man is." He continued, causing McGonagall to huff slightly by Harry's side.

"Well, I am pleased to welcome Harry Potter to Hogwarts. Transferring in to fourth year, I hope you give him a warm welcome!" Dumbledore beamed as if it was some sort of award ceremony.

Rolling his eyes in his head, he simply took the proffered sorting hat from McGonagall, before muttering an Engorgement charm in her earshot, so he could fit on the stool. McGonagall blinked for a moment, having realised of course, that the stool was much too small for a boy of his age, but nodded at his good sense. Smoothly sitting, he dropped the hat on his head.

And then he could feel his mind floating away, as the Hat's consciousness settled into his own.

'_A pleasure to meet you Hat.'_ Harry offered genially, as it began humming and pondering for a moment.

'_Oh! I suppose it is a pleasure to meet you too, but my word, what I'm seeing here is by all rights, incredible.'_ The hat replied to him. _'Well, I can see that you're occluding some things from me, after all I am a master of seeing one's mind.'_

'_You can?'_ Harry frowned mentally.

'_Oh yes.'_ It replied. _'I have thousands of years of experience at this little hobby of mine.'_

'_A hobby?'_ Harry snorted slightly in amusement. _'I would imagine that would be writing songs.'_

'_I call it how I see it Mr Potter.'_ It replied equally amused. _'I dare say, you're a rather intriguing individual. Even with all my experience, I doubt I'd break through to what you're hiding, but then again, I am only here to see where you fit best.'_

'_Frightening individual too.'_ It murmured after a moment of sifting through what Harry had allowed it to see. _'You're not actually very ambitious are you?'_ it asked after a moment.

'_Not especially no. What I want to achieve is probably rather audacious though and probably not easy.'_ Harry conceded. _'It's only a personal goal.'_

'_You're incredibly brave, when required, I suppose.'_ It murmured. _'You have a sharp mind, and wit, but don't live for knowledge. You learn what's necessary.'_

'_You work hard at everything you do.'_ It added. _'But you… are so so very sly. You would run rings around those children in Slytherin.'_

'_You would fit well everywhere it seems.'_ The hat pointed out. _'You certainly can act the part in any of the houses.'_

'_But you… have an edge of such pure cunning, it would be criminal if I didn't sort you into old Sal's house.'_ It sighed. _'Then again, you're only showing me what you want me to see.'_

'_I can see you have Miss Riddle's best interests in mind, given her family and everything. How you know that, when the old goat has done all he can to hide the information, I'll never know.'_ It griped slightly.

'_Loyal to whoever you consider a friend. Yet, you show an inherent lack of trust.'_ It sighed.

At this point, various mutterings could be heard in the hall, Elanor gazing at the hat in rapt attention, though the sorting had been going on for several minutes now.

'_Ohh oho!'_ the hat chuckled. _'If you can pull that off, you definitely deserve to be a Slytherin.'_

'_Slytherin then hmm?'_ Harry smirked slightly. _'You know, I'm glad you can't reveal anything I show you.'_

'_Of course, of course… Miss Riddle needs a stalwart friend here.'_ The hat sighed. _'I can only hope you do the right thing in this whole mess. Tweak the old goat's beard for me as well!'_

'_Has to be…'_

"SLYTHERIN!"

* * *

**AN 21.08.2014**

**So it took me a little thinking to write this. Who did I want them to see on the train? How do they interact? How would his sorting go? How does Harry act with others that aren't Elanor? I also laid the groundwork for the fact that he's a remarkable actor, implied by both Ellie and the Hat, but at the core, he is cunning. He deceives everyone around him, even admittedly deceiving Ellie at some points, despite having her best interests in mind. What's his purpose here anyway? Just some things to think about. The funny thing is, you can never really tell what he's thinking. You just don't know him well enough yet.**

**I'm fully aware the Ice Queen thing is cliche, but it is her main fanon personality, as is Astoria's polar opposite. It works well enough for me, and they are characters that aren't explored in any detail. You'll learn more about them and various others eventually.**

**This chapter was intended to reach the first lessons, but after 6.5k words, I felt a separate one introducing him to the house and general population was best.**

**Til next time!**

***Here's hoping this fic doesn't get hit with a Type1/Code1 error like my other did.***


	7. Wretched Irritants

**Wretched Irritants**

* * *

"SLYTHERIN!"

As soon as the loud words rang out, Elanor couldn't help the relieved sigh she let out. Of course, she wouldn't have cared if he ended up in another house, but she'd see far less of her friend than she would like. Not to mention it would be criminal for him _not_ to be a Slytherin!

Where else would an actor of his calibre go?

Watching him sweep off the hat with natural grace he seemed to be blessed with, her hands shook slightly in apprehension all of a sudden. He was a _good_ actor. A _very good_ actor, who could easily have fooled her, taken her mind for a spin even, out of personal amusement if he wanted to. Every Slytherin she knew would sooner stab you in the back, than actually consider you friends, she'd even seen that occur between groups in her house. Harry couldn't really be that kind of Slytherin could he? Did Slytherin actually make one such a person?

And then all her doubts were swept away as soon as he plonked himself down next to her, this time acting more like his natural bright self.

"Alright there Ellie?" he prompted, nudging her shoulder slightly, though it was unnoticeable to any other. Glancing at him for a moment, he seemed to know exactly where her mind had just gone, and was doing his best to remove such a notion from her thoughts. She replied smoothly, no trace of her nervousness apparent, and ignoring the raised eyebrows of the rest of the Slytherins, and even the curious stares from the rest of the houses.

"Just fine, Harry. Just fine."

"Good to know." He replied equally as smoothly, matching her tone perfectly, though his eyes seemed to show slight amusement at the act. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to set him an unintended challenge in such a manner? He'd find a way to annoy her within minutes if he took up the task, and that was something she, under no circumstances wanted him to do, especially in the Great Hall. Though, he seemed to understand that this was no place for frivolity at the moment, being that he was currently the centre of attention.

Why couldn't he understand that in other places?

"Why hello there Tori!" he called down the table all of a sudden, abruptly reminding her that he would do so, even if he understood that.

"Idiot." She hissed venomously to herself staring at her cutlery as though to melt it with her gaze, though Harry's slightly widening smile indicated that he fully knew what he was doing to her.

And she knew he would enjoy every second of it.

* * *

**/**

Albus Dumbledore was an old man yes, but not a fool, and he had felt something was off today. It hadn't taken much longer for him to decide that Harry Potter was the reason he felt that way. He didn't like to make assumptions usually, but he only had one possible explanation for it.

Glancing at the boy, who was now happily chatting with whom he recognised as Astoria Greengrass, the youngest of the Greengrass Family, and even sat next to Elanor Riddle, only further increased the feeling that something strange was happening, but he was at a loss as to what it actually was.

He had known about the boy of course, having personally received the transfer request into his school, several months prior, and he liked to make sure he knew about every student he had. He was a good headmaster, and good headmasters should know their students. Of course, knowing about his students didn't mean he wouldn't pry into their personal lives, after all, he had made such a mistake long ago, and that turned out to be something he let his heart rule, instead of his logic.

And the consequences were catastrophic to the wizarding world. He could have stopped the dark Lord Voldemort before he truly began, and yet, his heart foolishly prevented him doing such a thing. His heart betrayed him, and the world paid for his error. Never again.

So he had ruthlessly combed through every scrap of information he could get on his new student, which unfortunately, wasn't much, and this set off a few warning bells in his mind. Yet, he did not turn him away from Hogwarts. How better to keep an eye on an unknown quantity, than to see him in person?

Letting his gaze linger on the odd group of three for a moment longer, something about their interaction caused his heart to falter slightly. It wouldn't be noticeable to most, but Dumbledore could see the slight weight that had lifted off the young Riddle's shoulder, and not for the first time, wracked his mind over whether his machinations were necessary. Was what he was doing wrong? But he had gone so far already, things were already in motion. He had convinced himself that what he was doing was necessary. The Greater Good… How he hated those words, and yet, lived by them.

It was all for the Greater Good. She could never know, never understand, just how crucial things were. And perhaps, some part of him knew that she couldn't handle the truth. It was such a cruel thing sometimes, and the poor girl had done nothing wrong other than to exist. It wasn't fair to her, but he had to look beyond one child, and consider the whole wizarding world's survival. Even if he had to sacrifice a few people here and there, it would not truly matter to him. It would weigh heavily on his heart, but he would not do such things personally. He knew he was too cowardly to take it upon himself. So he became the chess master, playing people like pawns, and all the while, his heart burned at logic's callousness.

But it was necessary. A means to an end, with as little trouble as he could possibly manage. Riddle, he needed to isolate, keep safe and secure from the truth and the Light's enemies. In the same way, he had to do the same with the Boy-Who-Lived, Neville Longbottom, but he hadn't the bravery to condemn him to a dark childhood. He needed to subtly shape him into a strong willed, self-sacrificing young man. He forcefully made himself imagine that he was simply giving him a good life, before it had to end. In the end, the boy would care too much about others, and do what was necessary. Fate was cruel, and Dumbledore, her grudging agent. He hoped for the best, yet knew things would never go as smoothly as he hoped.

It all came down to Voldemort not being the kind of person to father a child on a whim. No. This was simply another experiment on his exploration of the darkness. What use she had to him, he could not fathom, but it was not good, he knew that. Tom Riddle knew nothing of love, so there was no other option left to him, but to be wary of the child that had been created. It could simply be another of Tom's endless plans, or an amusement to him, something he did on a whim. He could not figure it out, so he had to do some guesswork. The only conclusion was that he could never allow her to know about Tom, but what he had done, most people would never have dared to imagine. Stifling a weary sigh, he moved his eyes onwards, looking around at the children, some nervous, some happy, chatting amongst their social groups. A sight he hoped would last for many years to come, though the time was approaching. The signs had been growing clearer now, with the Quidditch World Cup in particular, that Tom was close to a return. And he needed to be prepared.

And he needed to start by watching the Potter boy carefully, because it wouldn't do for Riddle to change. She needed to understand just how cruel magic could be, and she could never stray from his vision of the future. Neville was on the path he had forged all those years ago, but now he needed to make sure that Riddle's didn't get derailed by one unforeseen obstacle.

And that boy could ruin everything he had strived for in the long struggle against Tom. He just knew it somehow. The only thing he was not sure of, was whether he could stop it. Something about those emerald eyes just seemed to make him feel ever so small.

He hadn't dared to risk passive Legilmency yet, content to wait until he met with the boy personally. It wouldn't do to leave things up to chance.

* * *

**/**

"Now that we are all fed and watered, I have a few announcements to make." Dumbledore stood up from his ornate chair, addressing the students as soon as the Welcoming Feast had been eaten.

As each student turned to look at him, he continued. "Firstly, Mr Filch, the school caretaker has informed me that the list of objects forbidden in the castle has been expanded to include Screaming yo-yo's, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises of some four hundred and thirty seven items, and is available in Mr Filch's office, if any of you wish to view it." He ended in slight amusement, knowing that despite Mr Filch's efforts, no student ever would read it.

"As always, I am obliged to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students, as is Hogsmeade for those who are below third year." He added, glancing at the red-headed Weasley twins as he spoke, though they still continued grinning as normal.

"It is also my sad duty to inform you that inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year." He added smoothly, as the hall erupted into slight outrage, particularly from the vocal Weasley twins.

"No Quidditch!?" they yelled in familiar tandem, carrying above the sudden buzzing of voices.

"This is due to an event that will be starting this October, and taking up much of the teachers time and energy-" he continued loudly, cutting through the noise, and commanding silence with ease. "-but I am sure you will enjoy it all greatly. I take great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-" he added, before the doors to the Great Hall suddenly burst open with a bang, stifling his words in his throat, as a grizzled man limped in, with a loud thunk of his seemingly wooden leg. The enchanted sky above suddenly flared into a slight storm, before the man raised his wand, an electric blue blast of what seemed like lightning firing straight up, exploding in a slight boom, as the sky settled once more. Shrugging uncaringly at the gobsmacked expressions on the students' faces, he growled slightly, limping towards Headmaster Dumbledore with a thump sounding every time his wooden leg hit the floor.

Put simply, the man had a very distinctive appearance, people often claimed his face looked like it was carved out of wood, such was the volume of scars that littered it. Even a chunk of his nose was missing and his hair was a slightly straggly dark grey. The most distinctive part of his appearance though, was a vivid electric blue magical eye, which seemed to move around incessantly independently of the other dark brown.

Reaching the Headmaster, Dumbledore seemed to favour him with a slight smile, before announcing to the students. "Ah, may I introduce our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody."

Moody then murmured to Dumbledore as he took his seat eye still spinning around madly. "Sorry I'm late Albus, I had a spot of trouble getting here." Dumbledore merely replied with a small nod, before continuing his announcements clearing his throat slightly.

"As I was saying, we have the honour of hosting a very prestigious event over the coming months. An event that has not been held for over a century. It is to my delight, that I am able to inform you that Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament his year."

"YOU'RE JOKING!" a loud yell of surprise came from the Gryffindor table, by Fred Weasley, his twin George simply staring gobsmacked at the headmaster.

Dumbledore's eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled amusedly. "I assure you Mr Weasley, I am not joking!"

"For those of you who may not know what this tournament is, a bit of background history perhaps?" he added rhetorically, noticing a few confused faces amidst the sea of excitement.

"The Triwizard Tournament was formed some seven hundred years ago, between the three largest European schools of Wizardry, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, as a friendly competition. It was hoped it would be a good way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of various nationalities. A champion was chosen from each school, to compete in three events as a test of magical ability. Each school took it in turn to host the tournament every five years, and this remained so, until the death toll mounted so high as to cause it to be discontinued."

He had now gained the rapt attention of the entire hall, aside from a few disinterested people it seemed, and others like Miss Granger who had balked at the fact there was a death toll.

"There have been several attempts to reinstate the tournament, but none have been successful, until our own Departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another try." He added smoothly, students still hanging on to his every word about the prestigious event.

"We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion shall find themselves in mortal danger. The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving this October with a shortlist of candidates, and selection shall take place this Halloween. An impartial judge will decide who is worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, eternal glory, and a thousand galleons of prize money." At this, Dumbledore paused once more for effect, exercising his prowess in the art of public speaking.

"Eager though you may be to win, all participants have agreed to impose an age limit on the contenders this year. Only wizards or witches of seventeen or older will be allowed to submit their name for consideration." He added gravely, before speaking up loudly to forestall any objections. "I will personally ensure that no student under this age will be able to hoodwink our impartial judge into being Hogwarts Champion."

"I know you will all extend every courtesy to our guests this coming October, and fully support our selected champion. But now, it is late, and students must be well rested for the coming lessons tomorrow. Bedtime! Chop Chop!" he added affably, as the prefects from each house stood to escort the newly arrived students to their dormitories.

* * *

**/**

"Seriously Harry, you really don't have to try and irritate me every chance you get, you do it well enough just being your normal self." Elanor murmured to him as they headed towards the dungeons and the location of the Slytherin dorms dutifully ignoring the calculating looks they were receiving. "Did you really have to be such a tease?"

At this Harry shook his head slightly with a wry smile. "I intend to enjoy myself you know Ellie, but I'll try not to drive you up the wall… much." He added, as his smile changed into a sly smirk, eyes glinting slightly. "Besides, she's a breath of fresh air, don't you think?"

"Tcha!" Elanor scoffed, rolling her eyes slightly as she glanced at Astoria, chatting with her friends further ahead in the group. "Puppy love, that's all. I hope you don't take it too far with the fun, or whatever it's meant to be."

"Not planning on going so far as to hurting the girl." Harry's smirk slid off his face rapidly. "It's just a rebellious phase, I reckon. Not to say I won't tease her for fun, but she gives as good as she gets, especially for a twelve year old."

"Well… good, I guess." Elanor murmured again. "And we still haven't had that private talk yet have we? Those two intruded on our privacy. And don't even think about it." She ended, narrowing her eyes at Harry's suddenly faux innocent look, poking him in the ribs with her elbow slightly.

"Got it." Harry replied smoothly. "No mentioning what was obviously on your mind." He added slyly, causing Elanor's jaw to drop in shock.

At her look, he continued glibly. "Oh come on, I saw that look on the train. If I didn't know better-"

"No. Absolutely not!" Elanor squeaked slightly. "You just took me by surprise, what with your complete lack of manners!"

"I'll have you know, I'm a real gentleman." Harry replied, mock-offended. "And besides, that was on purpose." He added with a mischievous snicker, causing Elanor to jab him sharply with her elbow, and making him wince.

"Well don't do it again." She replied imperiously. "Why the hell did you even do that?"

At this, Harry simply looked at her blankly before replying seriously. "Just a little test. Astoria responded as I expected, since she's easy to read. The other Greengrass though, she's a little more difficult. It's easier to read a person when you put them in completely new situations."

"But what were you trying to learn anyway?" Elanor blinked slightly, confused at his reasoning. "It's not as if they're dangerous to you or anything."

"No, not in the slightest." Harry agreed. "It's a habit. I _need_ to know everything I can about the people around me."

"Hat did say I have trust issues too." He scowled minutely, causing Elanor to raise an eyebrow in slight surprise, before simply looking forward again, having understood what he meant, and knowing he would not go into detail at this point in time.

"At least I don't go too far." Harry muttered rebelliously to himself all of a sudden, causing Elanor to twitch slightly, hearing him apparently argue with himself. "No, nothing like him." He added with a slightly stubborn tone.

Elanor simply decided at that moment to consider this as a _Harry quirk_, but vowed to look into it later if it turned out to be something more substantial. Not for the first time, she again felt slightly unsure of what she had gotten herself into. Whatever it was, she hoped it wouldn't cause her any trouble.

* * *

**/**

"Welcome to Slytherin House." A low silky voice cut through the murmur of conversation in the common room like a knife. The common room itself was surprisingly cold and uninviting, much like the man who had spoken. Though the room itself had its charms in the forms of dark green motifs with artistic silver snakes, it was hard to imagine the man having any such charm, such was the emptiness of his stare.

"For the newcomers to this noble house, I am Professor Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin, and resident Potions Master." He added smoothly, drawing the undivided attention of everyone in the room, even those who had obviously been subjected to this speech before. Next to Harry, Elanor scoffed subtly as the words noble uttered from his lips, causing Harry's lips to twitch in amusement.

The black haired professor's eyes snapped straight to her for a moment, subtly warning her against doing anything further to draw his ire, while Harry frowned subtly at the surprising awareness of the Potions Teacher, dressed all in black, Harry thinking for an absurd moment that he looked like a rather comical vampire.

"While _some_ of you, may not understand why that is, remember that whatever others may have you believe the worst of this house, we have always produced wizards and witches of renown. In your time here, I will ensure you perform respectably. Any who do not meet expectations, will suffer my _displeasure_." He ended coolly, glancing at the black haired, green eyed newcomer as he did so. A slight vague sense of recognition seemed to cross his mind for a moment. Had he seen the boy before? Looking away from him after a moment, he dismissed the thought as soon as it came. That was an impossible notion after all.

"Now, I shall leave you in the capable hands of our prefects. Timetables will be handed out at the morning meal in the great hall. Mr Potter, with me." He added, not sparing Harry another glance and sweeping from the room in practiced style, causing Harry to smirk slightly at Elanor.

"Greasy Bat indeed." He spoke quietly, causing Elanor to snicker slightly. "Well, it seems we shall have to hold our private chat later. Our esteemed Head of House wishes to see me." He added, smirk only widening slightly at the thought of possibly gaining his displeasure.

"I'll be in the common room when you get back." Elanor nodded slightly. "Don't antagonise him so soon either." She added with a knowing glance at his slight grin.

"Spoilsport." He replied with ease, but shrugging in acceptance, before he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against, and walking out the entrance smoothly.

As soon as he stepped outside, he was met with the blank but subtly commanding form of Severus Snape, who for lack of a better term, seemed to be scrutinising him carefully. Harry simply met his stare calmly, projecting a slightly curious air about himself, which didn't take much effort to maintain, given that he was actually interested in what Snape was trying to see in him. After a moment more, where Harry simply stared back unerringly, Snape finally spoke.

"Well Mr Potter, this is an unusual situation for me, given that we very rarely get transfer students at Hogwarts." He spoke smoothly, giving no outward signal to his curiosity, though Harry had already found the unspoken question rather obvious.

"Yes professor, I had heard it was unusual, in a manner of speaking." Harry replied calmly, furthering the conversation. "But I had heard good things about Hogwarts, and was no longer content with my own company." He added smoothly, glossing over the subject of him now being a legal adult, having no recognised family left.

"Indeed." Snape nodded slightly at his response. Here was someone who could infer what he wanted to know, from almost nothing at all, and it seemed to be a refreshing change, considering the Slytherin students he actually had under his wing. All in all, he really was interesting, Dumbledore himself having told Snape about the boy and how so little information could be found regarding him. While he didn't particularly like the Headmaster's methods of gathering information, himself being an accomplished Occlumens, he understood that sometimes, a lack of knowledge was dangerous, even if it was about some random child he had never heard of.

"Should you find yourself struggling with the work at any point, kindly inform me. I would hate for a student to lower the reputation of our house." He continued after a moment, mentioning his obligatory role as head of house, though something in his tone seemed to peak Harry's interest.

"I am sure you have better things to do sir." Harry nodded respectfully. "As it is, Professor McGonagall has also extended the same courtesy, if that is not too troubling?" he ended on a slight question.

At this, Snape inwardly grinned. At least the boy seemed to recognise that he seemed to dislike dealing with children, and taken the logical step of outright informing him that he wouldn't bother him. He was really beginning to find him ever more interesting now. As a rule, Snape hated children. Competent and mature ones, he could deal with, but he absolutely hated most he came across. Even his godson, Draco Malfoy, was one of those he _disliked_. Why Lucius had chosen him for that role, he would never know, but he wasn't a fool, and had agreed grudgingly.

"Not at all Mr Potter." He replied after a moment. "You may return now." He prompted Harry with a small wave of the hand.

"Of course Professor. A pleasure meeting you." Harry replied smoothly, smiling ever so faintly, before turning around and speaking the password to the smooth stone wall in front of him, revealing a door to the common room.

"Oh and Mr Potter?" Snape called after him quietly, causing Harry to stop and turn his head slightly back at him.

"Be careful with Miss Riddle." He added. "We wouldn't want you to emulate her."

Harry held back his initial retort, outwardly showing a slight hint of confusion, but knowing Snape wouldn't elaborate on his point. It was all too clear to him, based on things Ellie had told him about the bat.

"Of course sir." He replied blankly, before turning around and walking into the common room.

Snape simply looked at the dank stone wall that had closed up behind him for a moment, before he allowed a small smirk to form on his face.

"Oh Albus… you'll regret allowing him in Hogwarts." He murmured to himself in assurance. He just knew that the boy was something different. He'd eat the morons in his house for breakfast, and Miss Riddle would be swept along for the ride. And he would be ever so content to watch Dumbledore realise what a fool he'd been in regards to that girl. It would be ever so amusing to see how things would change around here. As for getting involved, that just wasn't his style. Unlike most of these bratty kids, he was a real Slytherin.

Turning around and walking into the shadowy gloom towards his office for a well-earned glass of wine, he murmured to himself once more, his black eyes glinting slightly in malicious amusement.

"Until next time Mr Potter." Were the words that he spoke into the gloom. "Until next time."

* * *

**/**

Harry blinked for a moment at the sight he saw in front of him in the common room. In fact, most of the older students also looked slightly incredulous, as Elanor seemed to be swarmed by Tori and her small group of friends, questions coming from left and right, until the poor girl's head seemed to be spinning as she tried to keep up. Tori herself was utterly unrepentant as Harry's entrance drew her attention.

Elanor breathed out a harried sigh, as their attention was diverted away to Harry, leaving her to catch her breath, now thoroughly starting to hate what Harry did on the train. She just knew his penchant for mischief would get her involved in his mayhem eventually.

"Oh come on Tori, I leave for one minute and you're already trying to steal all my secrets!" Harry sighed with fake-aggrievance. "Aren't we friends?" he added dramatically, holding a hand over his 'wounded' heart, causing Elanor to scowl at his irritating actions, while Tori curled a finger in her hair, with an incredibly convincing innocent look, complete with wide puppy dog eyes that Harry was sure she must have practised extensively.

He also noticed the slightly disgusted stare of a blonde haired, grey eyed boy on the dark green ornate couch in the middle of the room, amongst the scowl of a raven-haired, pug faced girl who seemed to be inseparably latched onto his arm.

Harry simply raised an eyebrow at her antics, before folding his arms across his chest, looking mock sternly at her. Tori simply looked back at him challengingly, while her friends shared a few silent looks of amusement at the byplay.

"Miss Greengrass." Harry spoke up after a moment with a weary sigh, causing Astoria to blink after a moment more, realising he wasn't playing around anymore, leaving her to pout slightly in disappointment.

"Talk to me in the morning Tori." Harry followed up after a minute, when it seemed like Astoria had gotten the message this time.

"I'll hold you to that." She replied smoothly, before she and her friends trailed out of the room to go to their rooms for the night.

Harry simply looked at their exit before sighing once more. If it wasn't obvious to Elanor before, it was obvious now that he was rather weary, and probably wanted to get their catch up out of the way as soon as he could. It was strange how she could recognise that now, having only known him for just shy of two months, but then again, she had actually spent every day in his company, rarely stopping by her orphanage.

Before she could speak to him though, she was abruptly brought out of her thoughts by Draco Malfoy, who had elected to speak to Harry.

"Harry Potter right?" he queried him. "I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." He continued, with his head held high, hand outstretched in an obvious attempt to initiate a handshake. Harry barely spared a glance at the slightly snobby boy in front of him, but still held out his hand, Draco grasping it for a small handshake, before it ended abruptly.

"I trust Professor Snape told you how things work around here?" he continued seemingly politely, with a small undercurrent of trying to assert his dominance in the situation. If Harry had not been ever so slightly tired at the moment, he probably would have laughed in his face, but simply didn't want the bother tonight.

"Ah yes, he seems to be a competent professor." Harry replied smoothly, showing no sign of what he was actually thinking. "I should fit in rather well judging by his comments." He added, unable to resist the slight jab at Malfoy, informing him that Snape seemed to consider him a _real_ Slytherin. Sadly, this went over the boy's head, causing Harry to inwardly sigh in disappointment. He wasn't going to get anything stimulating out of this.

"Just as long as you know who's in charge around here." Malfoy responded snobbishly, trying to stare Harry down.

"Oh trust me, I know." Harry smiled genially, his voice dripping with sarcasm, as his eyes caught Elanor's who had smirked in slight amusement. She was hoping Harry would show up Malfoy a little, but she had to admit that this was just as amusing, especially to those who could recognise his tone for what it really was.

"As a fellow Slytherin, I feel it my duty to inform you to avoid certain… _irregulars_, in this house." Malfoy added magnanimously, missing the dark glint in Harry's eye for the moment. "Astoria for example, while not a fine example of a pureblood, is still worthy of the name. She'll learn to conform eventually though. Riddle on the other hand…" Malfoy trailed off slowly, expecting Harry to fully understand what he was saying.

At this point, listening to Malfoy had gotten rather irritating to Harry, whose placating smile had now smoothly dropped from his face, leaving it blank and cold. "Riddle?" he replied ever so slightly coldly, though the unaware brat in front of him failed to pick up on his tone. Elanor had though, amongst one or two others, like Daphne Greengrass, who had stayed to watch Malfoy introduce himself as normal, next to her dark skinned friend Blaise Zabini, who had a subtle smirk of anticipation form on his face.

"Oh this should be good." He whispered conspiratorially to the other girl next to him, called Tracey Davis, who nodded in agreement, not taking her eyes off the pair.

"Yes, Riddle." Malfoy smirked at Harry, still not actually paying attention to his reaction, having been uncaring enough of his conversation partner. To be perfectly honest, he was simply dictating things to Harry, and expecting him to agree. After all, Malfoy was a powerful name, and no one would dare to contradict him in this house.

"Filth such as her shouldn't even be in this house. Salazar Slytherin would be ashamed." He added with a scowl, causing a few people to glance over at her, but being rather surprised at the small smile that had etched itself on her face. With that look, she seemed to be ever so much more imposing than they could have imagined. Some of the more exuberant Slytherins would have sworn she looked like a bloodthirsty demon with a malicious glint in her cold brown eyes, while more conservative ones would simply say she was looking forward to the fireworks.

"Oh?" Harry queried slightly dangerously. "What kind of… filth?" he added ever so slightly teasingly, a small toothy grin forming on his face, causing a few of the more cowardly Slytherins to shudder and look away.

"Trash that has no place in our world Harry." Draco added obliviously, uncaring that he had no permission to use his name. After all, he was above him in status. Malfoys were the top of the pureblood chain after all.

"Muggle spawn, Mudbloods, those that spit on our culture and way of life. Filthy people such as Riddle." He added slightly exuberantly, channelling his father, though none in public saw such a side of him.

"You mean to say that a pureblood such as Riddle is such a person?" Harry responded whimsically now, his grin becoming amused now, rather than dangerous. He snickered slightly, causing Malfoy to look at him and drawing the undivided attention of everyone else, who had absolutely no idea that this was the case. Though it wasn't as if any of them knew of her parentage. It was simply an assumption. "You are remarkably misinformed _Malfoy_." He added, staring into his shocked grey eyes.

"In fact…" Harry drawled lightly, this time acting like Malfoy… to Malfoy of all people! "Wasn't your mother a Black Ellie?" he cocked his head at Elanor's surprised stare. She wasn't expecting him to come out with that, after all. Not waiting for her reply, though he wasn't actually asking for one, he continued this time to a gobsmacked Malfoy who had paled slightly. "Oh!"

"I forgot, that means you're related to her doesn't it?" Harry added, grinning like a shark now, eyes lighting up in amusement. "Hey Ellie, come say 'Hi' to your newfound family!" he added with a lilting voice, causing Elanor to look at him in horror.

"I refuse to believe that stuck-up arsehole is related to me!" she exclaimed loudly uncharacteristically adamant, drowning out Malfoy's horrified protest at Harry's suggestion, and causing a few quickly stifled snickers to sound out.

"Well put it this way Ellie." He added, now completely ignoring Malfoy who had stepped back a few paces and was trembling slightly in horror. "I dare say you have an equal claim on the Black Inheritance hmm?"

"Oh the look on your face!" Harry burst out in loud laughter at Malfoy's horrified twist of his lips, amongst Elanor's steadily darkening façade. He knew he'd be in for an earful off her later, but just couldn't help but be endlessly amused at the spanner he had thrown in the works.

At this point, Malfoy flushed slightly in anger before snarling as he whipped out his wand. "I'll teach you to disrespect me!"

However, before he could even fire off a spell, his wand had inexplicably vanished from his hand, leaving him looking slightly dumfounded before seeing it being held by Potter, who seemed to be twirling it around in one hand in slight boredom. "It seems that even your wand thinks you're a stuck-up arsehole. Why, it even jumped into mine to get away!" Harry spoke to him in a flat voice. "I suppose you're a honest one at least, if a bit foolish." He added silkily, reminding Malfoy of a time when he was being rebuked by his father. It was ridiculously demeaning, especially in front of nearly all of Slytherin.

"Give me my wand Potter!" he spat at him, all trace of faux-politeness gone from his tone, giving way to fury. "Now!" he ordered him sharply, though Harry seemed to think it more of a timid attempt to ask for it back. His angry visage wasn't even remotely frightening.

"You need to work on that." Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "You're less frightening than a flobberworm." He added flatly.

"Crabbe! Goyle!" he barked out angrily. "Teach Potter a lesson!"

When nothing seemed to be happening, Malfoy turned around slightly bewildered, until he saw the two unconscious forms of his glorified bodyguards, and Elanor absently fingering her wand. "What?" she asked flatly. "I hope you don't think I'll be helping you." She added coolly, before Malfoy turned around with his eye twitching slightly, only to be met with Harry's eyes. He flinched almost immediately, Harry's face twisting into cruel amusement as he did so.

Swallowing his pride for the moment, knowing that he wouldn't receive any help from the other Slytherins, he ground out slowly. "Please give me back my wand… Potter." He added please this time, though it rankled him ever so much to demean himself.

"Of course!" Harry responded with an affable smile, the cruel amusement gone within a flash. "All you had to do was ask! After all, I'm sure we all agree that cursing someone in such a manner is ever so unbecoming hm?" he added, jabbing at the childish manner in which he had reacted, before holding the wand out point end first, to ensure Malfoy couldn't just curse him as soon as he had it, though he would have loved to see him try.

At Harry's raised eyebrow, Malfoy scowled slightly, having received his wand. "Thank you." He hissed slightly, inwardly seething at the audacity he had, before reminding himself that he needed to check the claim he had made with his father. Whether it was true or not, she would never be considered a real pureblood to him. After all, she was trash.

* * *

**/**

Shortly after the confrontation, Elanor had swept out of the common room down a hallway, Harry following a moment later. Thankfully, no one had approached them afterwards, otherwise she didn't know what she would do, anger boiling in her veins. As soon as Harry had stepped around the corner, she had turned around and abruptly pushed him against a wall, fists clenched in his robes near his neck. She didn't know what she was going to do to him in all honesty, but she was so incensed at the moment, she couldn't really think straight, as her form trembled slightly.

"Why?" she asked, voice trembling as she tried not to yell at him. "Why would you do that?" she asked him again, this time tugging at him slightly, trying to shake the answer out of him somehow, though his hands suddenly gripped her shoulders tightly, but not painfully.

"Does it matter why?" he sighed wearily as he looked down at her, as she did her best to avoid looking directly at him. She didn't think she could actually do it right now.

"Does it?" Harry asked her more insistently now, pulling her slightly closer, not letting his grip off her shoulders.

"I need to know what the hell you were thinking!" Elanor snapped at him finally, futilely trying to tear herself out of his grasp.

"Because from what I could see, you were just bringing it up for your own sick amusement!" she snapped again, having given up on getting out of his iron grip. "What am I supposed to think, when you blurt out things about my family, in front of everyone!?" her voice quivered slightly this time, though it didn't seem to lose any heat. "I told you all of this in confidence…" her voice wavered now. "You don't do that. You don't do that!" she snapped now, eyes watering as she glared at him directly now.

"Why?" she asked him once more, this time almost pleading with him to answer her.

"Do you know what it's like to have a friend that is treated like you are?" Harry replied with his own question, before continuing wearily. "It's not enough to just be your friend, when there's nothing I can do to change your mind about changing how people treat you. I know you wouldn't agree with me if I'd told you to say such a thing yourself."

"See, it's meaningless really, though I know you don't think of it that way." Harry added smoothly. "He called you filth Ellie!" he growled slightly, the vibration being felt by Ellie due to their close contact. "People like him won't judge you on what you're like as a person. You're in Slytherin, home of the _nobles_."

"Your mother is dead and gone. She abandoned you Ellie." He whispered now, pulling her into a consoling hug. "Just trust me, I did this to make things better for you. Really, I did." He added, closing his eyes for a moment. "You're expected to use your family name for power and respect in Slytherin, just look at Malfoy."

"I don't want to be anything like Malfoy." She mumbled with faint disgust, anger having faded away, leaving her feeling slightly hollow, with a small lingering of sadness.

"There's a difference Ellie. You're not using your family tree as your sole means of respect here. Malfoy certainly wouldn't care if you were his family, he'd probably treat you worse." Harry sighed, eyes dulling slightly at the faraway look in Elanor's eyes. "But I want people to treat you better. If I have to make your decisions for you, I will, and I won't regret it. I'll regret it if I end up hurting you, but I didn't mean to."

"Why do this for me?" Elanor looked away from him, head bowed slightly. "I'm not-"

"Don't do that!" Harry snapped at her sharply, shocking her slightly with his harsh tone. "You're better than that!"

"Are you really starting to consider their words as truth?" Harry continued pleadingly. "What right do they have to judge? Cowards, the lot of them!"

"I'll be damned if you ever decide you're worth less than pathetic brats such as them." Harry continued, his voice becoming like steel, hard and unwavering. "Just remember, you're worth more to me than any of those worthless creatures that prattle on about things that mean nothing." He added, before blinking slightly in surprise at his own words.

"I'm still mad Harry." Elanor sighed, but relented slightly as she gave into his hug grudgingly. "Just don't do anything like that again."

"I just want you to be great." Harry murmured. "I know you will be, and I don't want anyone to make you feel like you can't be."

"But… I promise." He added, conceding to her request. "Just don't tell me I can't hex them."

At this, Elanor gave a slightly weak chuckle before replying softly. "Don't go too far though Harry."

"Me? Never!" he replied smoothly, before allowing Elanor to extricate herself from his arms.

Shaking her head slightly she sighed tiredly. "And we still haven't had our little talk. Your fault this time, I guess."

"Fair point." Harry frowned. "By the way, where do I go?" he added with a weak chuckle, having realised he still didn't know where he'd be staying.

Elanor gave him a slightly brittle smile, before replying. "Just follow me."

"Was already planning on it." Harry responded smoothly, before following her down the corridor, passing by a few open doors, where people had yet to return to their rooms.

"In Slytherin, each student from third year onwards gets their own room." Elanor spoke up after a few moments walking. "There's a few spare around where I'm staying, just to make it easier for you."

"Let me guess, there's a free room right next door to yours hm?" Harry replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Where else?" Elanor responded, dutifully ignoring his actual implication like a professional. "Not as if anyone wanted to stay near me of all people." She scoffed slightly, Harry electing not to add any words into the mix this time.

"And here we are." She spoke up a moment later, having reached a door, with the number twenty-three etched on the door in silver. "I'm in twenty-five, just next door, and twenty-four just across the corridor is vacant too. Take your pick."

"Twenty-five is not included." She added blandly as Harry opened his mouth, causing him to pout slightly.

"Ok, ok." He replied with a sigh. "Twenty-three will do." He added, before turning the brass knob on the dark mahogany door, leading into a room with a four-poster bed, with forest green drapes and quilt cover, edged with a silver colour, in keeping with the theme of the Slytherin house crest. One side of the room had a chest of drawers and a wardrobe, both matching the colour of the door, and on the other was a door leading into a small bathroom. At Harry's curious look, Elanor spoke up.

"We are in the dungeons after all. Far more space here than anywhere else in the castle. The locations of the common rooms are a very poorly kept secret anyway, though no one's sure where the Hufflepuff rooms are, come to think of it. Anyway, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw have a tower each, and have to share dorms."

"Anyway, it's up to you what you do with your room, you'll be living in it for several years anyway." She added smoothly.

"Done anything to yours?" Harry looked at her curiously.

"No." she replied flatly. "The best I can think of doing is a locking charm, and those can be broken." She added absently.

"I guess people have no respect for personal space anymore. I'll ward your door to prevent unwanted visitors then." He sighed. "I'll be doing the same to mine, so it's only fair." He added at her look.

"I'll show you how to do a little warding at some point." He conceded to her continued stare.

"You do that." She replied smoothly. "We can talk while you unpack."

"You helping?" Harry looked at her questioningly.

"Nope. I'll just sit on the bed and watch you do your thing." She replied swiftly, causing Harry to cough slightly.

"Of course." He replied after a moment's thought, causing Elanor to scowl slightly.

"You need to stop doing that." She groaned. "It's becoming irritating."

"Sorry." He grinned slightly unrepentantly, before waving his wand in one sweeping motion, his trunk spilling open as books and clothes and various other trinkets flying out as they were sent to their respective places, some actually folding themselves, drawers opening to allow things to drop in. A few moments of madness later, everything settled down once more, leaving Harry looking at Elanor with a faint grin.

"We can talk now." He added, when her slightly stunned look seemed like it wouldn't fade.

This caused Elanor to simply shake her head, as if to forget what she had actually just seen. After a moment's thought, she realised that the magic was probably simpler than it looked, but it was still a sight to see.

"Still need to get used to the things you do with magic." She sighed. "Anyway, what exactly did you do with Bella?" she looked at him curiously, having wondered what he had meant for almost the whole day.

"Oh yeah." Harry nodded in remembrance. "Here." He rolled up his sleeve for a moment, before tracing the point of his black wand down his forearm, slowly revealing ink to Elanor's eyes.

"I guess that explains why I didn't see a tattoo earlier. Amongst other things." She murmured to herself before blinking slightly. It was quite an elaborate tattoo, and looked almost lifelike, complete with the black scales and blue eyes she associated with Isabella. "Can she hear me?" she added, looking at Harry once again, tearing her eyes away from it.

"No. She can hear me though, but that's more like telepathy of a kind, rather than me actually talking." Harry replied. "I can call her out anytime, but I'll leave her be for now. Don't have quite enough room in here for her anyway."

"Probably too complicated to go into detail with though." Harry added at Elanor's questioning glance. "It's probably the most complex piece of magic I've actually shown you, because this isn't a normal magical tattoo. Perhaps it's more on the scale of the complexity of a Dark Mark." He added slightly absently, before frowning at the comparison he had made. "Certainly not a foul creation though, yet it's still probably in a grey area. At least it's not illegal." He added with a sly smirk.

"Anyway, you wanted to talk about duelling right?" Harry added, before receiving a nod off Elanor in confirmation. "You wanted to learn how to defend yourself." Harry pointed out, before continuing. "Well duelling is quite a broad subject, but the entire point of it is to defeat an opponent as efficiently as you can, exploit their weaknesses, play to your strengths etcetera. The main issue is a matter of style and level."

"Style and level?" Elanor frowned. The books had mentioned nothing like that, so she was understandably intrigued.

"It's not a matter of learning spells useful in combat, because that would be a massive list, since almost anything can be used to give you an edge." Harry responded smoothly, now taking a small lecturing tone as she leaned back against the headboard, waiting for him to continue. "While it's good to learn spells like Shield Charms and Curses and so on, even Healing Spells and Counter-curses and charms are all useful, the main thing is your level and your style, which dictates how easy it will be to win."

"Your level, is almost self-explanatory, because let's say, elite level would be someone like Flitwick, who was a duelling champion. Then there's a step above that, which becomes a struggle of almost pure power and will, with combatants like Dumbledore and the Dark Lord. Your style is something else though, and that's usually unique, unless you're trained like a police force, the Aurors for example."

Harry paused for a moment before continuing. "Some people move around unceasingly, continuously avoiding their opponent's spells, and returning their own. Others stand in one spot, flinging powerful curses, and throwing up incredible shields, which incidentally is how the Dark Lord duelled when he toyed with people. Others use everything around them to their advantage, case in point, Dumbledore, who is superb with transfiguration."

"Some people say power is meaningless in duelling, but not even the best duellist could beat Voldemort or Dumbledore, because their power would be too great to stand against. They know magicks that are just naturally overwhelming forces of nature even, and would overwhelm anyone who couldn't fight on their level. Flitwick, even though he is a duelling champion, couldn't hope to match against the Dark Lord or Dumbledore one on one. The difference in level is too much, even if he has more experience of actual duels, which is extremely likely."

"Though it should be simple to teach you the basics of how to defend and retaliate on a school level. If you want, we can build it up to more complex things later anyway." Harry ended. "Besides, people like Malfoy are probably too arrogant to think of anything other than making their opponent hop around, while they stand there, toying with them." He tacked on after a short moment, causing Elanor to make a noise of fervent agreement.

"Oh yeah, in second year he and Longbottom just stood their ground and hexed each other." Elanor input with an aggrieved shake of her head.

"Ah well, we'll have time to figure things out Ellie." Harry sighed, before absently tracing his wand back over the tattoo, causing it disappear into unblemished skin once more. "That's just a glamour by the way." He added. "Very useful."

"Yes, I'll teach you anything you want me to." He waved a hand before she could ask once more. "As for duelling, it'll be a little while until I get used to the routine here, and we find a place, though the spare room over there might be useful, damage might be noticed."

"Sure, sounds fine with me." Elanor nodded after a moment. "Should probably get some sleep now, we have to up early in the morning, and you don't want to be sleeping the whole day away Harry."

"Too bad." Harry sighed. "I could sleep the whole day away I reckon."

At this, Elanor rolled her eyes slightly, before slipping off the bed and heading to the door. "I'll be making sure you're awake, through any means necessary Harry." She smirked slightly as Harry blanched.

"No need for anything like that now! I'll be up." Harry chuckled weakly.

"Night Harry." Elanor shook her head wryly as she opened the door.

"Night Ellie." Harry called back after a moment, as she walked through, door shutting with a click behind her. "Night." He murmured again to the silent room, looking around awkwardly before shivering slightly.

"I should just put things off for tomorrow." Harry groaned. "I can't go running about so soon."

"Until tomorrow." He nodded to himself, before planting his face in the pillow, drifting off to a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**AN 07.09.2014**

**9K Words for those of you that are unsure how much I'd written here. I keep promising things will be included in chapters that end up being in others instead, so I'm just not gonna say anything except definite inclusions like the fact that there will be a Dumbledore meeting and one or two lessons next time, along with anything else I feel could be included – meeting a few people too I guess if I get the 'feel' right.**

**This is 2k words more than the previous chapter, which was the longest I'd written. It turns out that my chapter length is horribly inconsistent, yet ironically consistently getting longer. I'll just come out and say that I'll end a chapter where I feel it should end. As for the slow pace, it doesn't seem entirely too bad to me, but there are always small time-skip phases, in this case, about two months have passed since Elanor met Harry. And yes, Elanor didn't know she was related to Malfoy – more on things to do with her family and the Blacks later. Also, I'll discuss why Snape might feel Harry is familiar, but it's far more complicated than you might think, but that also comes so much later, I feel horrible for saying it now and teasing you.**

**Until next time! **

**(By the way, I didn't want to write a cliché Dumbledore, so what it may look like here, understand that this isn't Manipulative entirely, or Dark, or a bashing fic. Malfoy is kinda bashed - but that's not a constant - but he still acts like the child he did at this point anyway. Needless to say, you'll get a fair accounting of people you might even dislike from canon.)**

**Fur-**


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